This Week in Virology

TWiV 863: Does this challenge study pass the smell test?

February 6, 2022

TWiV reviews the results of a study in which 36 volunteers were infected with SARS-CoV-2, and what was learned about the kinetics of virus reproduction in the nose and throat, development of symptoms, and reliability of lateral flow antigen assays.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

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Download TWiV 863 (69 MB .mp3, 114 min)
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Links for this episode

Vaccine Town Hall (ASV)
Columbia University BSL-3 Manager position 1:55
UK SARS-CoV-2 challenge study (Res Sq) 2:44
U of Pennsylvania smell test (Wikipedia) 52:26
Letters read on TWiV 863 1:38:26
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:19:26

Dickson – Webb team begins aligning telescope
Brianne – Our Solar System in True Color Is Really Something Else
Rich – When the International Space Station retires, it will plunge into the ocean to die
Vincent – Gateway Program and What One Really Expensive Means to US Train Travel

Listener Picks

Jack – Dr. Becky and Pasta or composer

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 862: COVID-19 clinical update #100 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

February 5, 2022

In COVID-19 clinical update #100, Daniel Griffin, from Accra, Ghana, reviews the challenges in evaluating Omicron severity, over 800 deaths in children, Pfizer vaccine EUA application for under 5 year olds, false positives from soft drinks, Novavax vaccine EUA application, childhood experiences and vaccine hesitancy, fourth vaccine dose in Israel, effects of antivirals and monoclonals against Omicron, and multiple factors associated with PASC.

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Download TW iV 862 (23 MB .mp3, 38 min)
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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

TWiV 861: Rough draft of Omicron origins

February 3, 2022

Nels joins TWiV to discuss hypotheses for the origins of Omicron, including that it came from mice or arose during chronic infection of an immunocompromised patient.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Nels Elde

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Download TWiV 861 (69 MB .mp3, 114 min)
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Links for this episode

Vaccine Town Hall (ASV)
Columbia University BSL-3 Manager position 3:27
Did Omicron come from mice? (J Genet Genomics) 8:27
Persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection (SSRN) 53:46
Letters read on TWiV 861 1:20:16
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:39:04

Brianne – Groundhogs Emerge From the Scientific Shadows
Kathy – Zig-zag Coast Guard search pattern
Rich – Moon Phases 2022 (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter)
Vincent – Kevin Cowtan’s Book of Fourier and Live Fourier Transformation
Nels – Biology versus bias

Listener Picks

Dusty – Fighting bias in space

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 860: Evading a Toll on the road to RNA vaccines

January 30, 2022

TWiV reviews a seminal paper showing that chemically modified bases in RNAs suppress recognition by Toll-like receptors, a finding that that was essential for the development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

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Download TWiV 860 (76 MB .mp3, 126 min)
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Links for this episode

Vaccine Town Hall (ASV) 1:55
Columbia University BSL-3 Manager position 2:14
RNA modifications suppress innate recognition (Immunity) 4:08
Critical contribution of pseudouridine (Front Cell Dev Biol) 34:49
Rich Condit reminisces (YouTube) 10:26
Letters read on TWiV 860 43:49
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:27:35

Dickson – NASA Research Launches a New Generation of Indoor Farming
Kathy – How Pfizer scientists transformed an old drug lead into a COVID-19 antiviral
Rich – Fermi paradox
Vincent – Racism not Race by Joe Graves

Listener Picks

Jay – Restoration of Ave Maria

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 859: COVID-19 clinical update #99 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

January 29, 2022

In COVID-19 clinical update #99, Daniel Griffin discusses Omicron disease severity, neurologic manifestations in children, testing outcomes during multiple infections, boosters improve VE and VD, booster efficacy for ED and UC encounters, vaccines induce cross-protective T cell memory, and indications for monoclonal antibody therapy.

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Download TWiV 859 (58 MB .mp3, 48 min)
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Links for this episode

Omicron disease severity (MMWR) 3:21
Neurologic manifestations in children (Pediatric Neurol) 6:16
Respiratory virus interference (Emerg Inf Dis) 8:19
Hospitalization by vaccination status (CDC) 10:12
Third vaccine dose VE (MMWR) 11:27
Vaccination induces cross-reactive T cells (Cell) 16:02
Limitations for monoclonal antibody use for Omicron (FDA) 21:44
Internship at Parasites Without Borders (pdf) 28:47
Letters read on TWiV 859 29:03
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

TWiV 858: The vax of life with John Mascola

January 27, 2022

John Mascola joins TWiV to discuss the history and mission of the NIH Vaccine Research Center, how it prepared for devising pandemic vaccines, and development of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Guest: John Mascola

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Download TWiV 858 (130 MB .mp3, 109 min)
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Links for this episode

Accelerated COVID-19 vaccine development (Immunity) 20:27
Letters read on TWiV 858 1:03:24
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:33:57

Brianne – How Sesame Street is Handling the Pandemic
Rich – Zamboni: How it works
Alan – How lightning starts
Vincent – Buon-A-Petitti

Listener Picks

Meika –Wordle

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 857: Not just antibody, Jon Yewdell

January 23, 2022

Jon Yewdell returns to TWiV to discuss how antibodies are made, vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, antigenic variation of the virus, booster shots, and more.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Jon Yewdell

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Download TWiV 857 (76 MB .mp3, 126 min)
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Links for this episode

Jon Yewdell on TWiV 208, 467, 597, 620 2:10
Letters read on TWiV 857 1:34:34
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:22:00, 1:26:16

Jon – The Premonition by Michael Lewis
Dickson – Nature photographer of the year 2021
Brianne – Should BioBank Volunteers Be Warned About Mutations?
Rich – Czech singer Hanka Horká dies after intentionally getting infected by the coronavirus and Dena Dietrich Dies at 91
Vincent – Cuore di Cioccolato

Listener Picks

Bronwen – Schools must stay open
John – Pandemic humor

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 856: COVID-19 clinical update #98 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

January 22, 2022

In COVID-19 clinical update #98, Daniel Griffin reviews COVID-19 in South Africa, recognition of Omicron by ancestral T cells, booster effectiveness against disease, infection and vaccination in pregnant women, early Remdesivir to prevent progression to severe disease, management of hospitalized adults, Tocilizumab in hospitalized patients, vaccination and long COVID, and the true toll of the pandemic.

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Download TWiV 856 (58 MB .mp3, 48 min)
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Links for this episode

COVID-19 in South Africa (pdf) 4:09
Ancestral T cells recognize Omicron (Nat Med) 11:36
Booster effectiveness against COVID-19, England (Nat Med) 14:52
Cases and hospitalization by vaccination status (MMWR) 17:48
Infection and vaccination in pregnant women, Scotland (Nat Med) 24:43
Early Remdesivir to prevent progression to severe disease (NEJM) 32:33
Management of hospitalized adults (NIH) 28:00
Tocilizumab in hospitalized patients (Resp Care) 36:19
Vaccination and long COVID in Israel (medRxiv) 38:01
Pandemic true death toll (Nature) 41:37
Internship at Parasites Without Borders (pdf) 42:40
Letters read on TWiV 856 43:12
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to [email protected]

TWiV 855: T time with Alessandro Sette

January 20, 2022

Alessandro Sette returns to TWiV to discuss the observation that SARS-CoV-2 vaccination induces T cells that are able to cross-recognize variants Alpha to Omicron.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Alessandro Sette

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Download TWiV 855 (95 MB .mp3, 97 min)
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Links for this episode

Travel Award Applications (ASV) 1:01:36
Impact of variants on T cells (Cell Rep Med) 16:38
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!
Letters read on TWiV 855 1:07:43

Weekly Picks 1:18:00

Brianne – 75 years of research on human diseases in 1 minute
Kathy – 10 second video of COVID-19 spread
Rich – Diffraction spike
Vincent – John’s Furniture Repair and Transcend Furniture Gallery

Listener Picks

Alison – FDA drug shortages
Ingrid – One woman’s mission to get vaccines to her rural Alabama town

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 854: Omicron is evasive

January 16, 2022

TWiV reviews findings that increased fitness of the Omicron variant is due to immune evasion, not an increase in intrinsic transmissibility, and determination of infectious viral load in patients infected with wild type, Delta and Omicron viruses reveals lack of correlation with RNA loads determined by RT-PCR, similar levels of shedding among Delta and Omicron, and greatly reduced shedding in vaccinated people.