This Week in Virology

TWiV 781: My genome is left to tell the tale

July 18, 2021

The Team with Invincible Values discusses whether dogs or cats passively carry SARS-CoV-2 on hair and foot pads, maternal to fetal transfer of antibodies in infected or vaccinated pregnant women, and evidence that retroviruses infected cetaceans before and after they moved into the oceans.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Brianne Barker

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Download TWiV 781 (64 MB .mp3, 107 min)
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Links for this episode

SARS-CoV-2 on dogs and cats (Viruses) 9:52
Maternal to neonatal transfer of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (J Clin Investîmes) 22:48
Retroviral evolution in cetaceans and their ancestors (Plos Path) 37:53
Letters read on TWiV 781 1:09:15
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:30:44

Dickson – Current Map | U.S. Drought Monitor
Brianne – A comic strip about immune responses
Alan – Superliminal game
Vincent – Birds are dying in NJ

Listener Picks

2listening1 – Renewal
Em – Cognitive Surplus

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 780: COVID-19 clinical update #71 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

July 17, 2021

In COVID-19 clinical update #71, Daniel Griffin reviews updated school and child care guidance from CDC, transmission in schools, accuracy of lateral flow assays, update to J&J/Janssen vaccine EUA to include GBS, interim immunogenicity of Ad.26.CoV2.s, effectiveness of mRNA vaccines to prevent hospitalization, Bamlanivimab plus Etesevimab for mild or moderate disease, and a meta-analysis of ivermectin results.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 780 (22 MB .mp3, 37 min)
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Links for this episode

School and child care guidance (CDC) 6:59
Transmission in schools (CDC) 11:32
Accuracy of lateral flow diagnostics (Lancet) 18:07
GBS with Ad.26.CoV2.s vaccine (FDA) 21:31
Ad.26.CoV2.s interim immunogenicity (NEJM) 23:01
mRNA vaccine effectiveness to prevent hospitalization (medRxiv) 24:51
Bamlanivimab plus Etesevimab (NEJM) 27:18
Meta-analysis of ivermectin studies (Clin Inf Dis) 29:29
Letters read on TWiV 780 34:37
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 779: Evolving boosterism

July 11, 2021

TWiV reviews evidence that COVID-19 mRNA vaccination of both uninfected and previously infected persons elicits cross-variant neutralizing antibodies, and directed evolution of a bacterial protein to form a virus-like capsid that specifically packages its encoding mRNA.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Brianne Barker

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Download TWiV 779 (60 MB .mp3, 100 min)
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Links for this episode

mRNA vaccine boosts cross-variant neutralizing Ab (Science) 4:18
mRNA vaccine boosts variant B and T cell responses (Science) 22:13
Directed evolution of virus-like nucleocapsid (Science) 34:46
Letters read on TWiV 779 59:30
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:18:36

Brianne – The Science of Chocolate Chip Cookies
Alan – Keeping Black students in STEM
Vincent – Antiviral Program for Pandemics

Listener Pick

Mark – Curator on the Loose, Classic Airliners and Vintage Pop Culture, Flying Men, Flying Machines, Thai Flying Club

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 778: COVID-19 clinical update #70 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

July 10, 2021

In COVID-19 clinical update #70, Daniel Griffin discusses efficacy of portable air cleaners, vaccine induced serum neutralizing antibodies against variants, prevention and attenuation of disease with mRNA vaccines, ivermectin to prevent hospitalization, IL-6 antagonists and mortality, and impact of vaccination on long COVID.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 778 (22 MB .mp3, 37 min)
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Links for this episode

Efficacy of portable air cleaners (MMWR) 5:14
Ad26.COV2.S elicited neutralization of variants (bioRxiv) 8:40
Prevention of COVID-19 with mRNA vaccines (NEJM) 11:29
Ivermectin to prevent hospitalization (BMC Inf Dis) 17:12
IL-6 antagonists and mortality (JAMA) 20:05
Impact of vaccination on long COVID (Lancet) 22:40
Letters read on TWiV 778 26:53
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 777: SARS-CoV-2 fitness with Ron Fouchier

July 8, 2021

Ron Fouchier explains why increased transmission of SARS-CoV-2-variants has not been demonstrated, and their ability to displace ancestral variants is due to greater fitness, much like influenza virus antigenic variation leads to better fitness and replacement of previously circulating variants.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Ron Fouchier

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Download TWiV 777 (63 MB .mp3, 104 min)
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Links for this episode

Ron Fouchier on TWiV 177, 291, 557 1:08
Mutations driving H5N1 airborne transmission in ferrets (Cell) 2:37
SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 transmission among ferrets (Nat Comm) 7:15
Avian influenza virus transmission among seals (Cell Host Micr) 4:05
Letters read on TWiV 777 1:02:45
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:29:02

Brianne – The Science News Cycle
Kathy – mRNA Day Kariko & Weissman lectures and Q&A
Vincent – Just Planes

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 776: Yes! We have no pangolins

July 4, 2021

TWiV reviews an analysis of animal sales from Wuhan wet markets before the COVID-19 pandemic, control of dengue by release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, and fatal dengue acquired in Florida.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Brianne Barker

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Download TWiV 776 (65 MB .mp3, 109 min)
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Links for this episode

Animal sales from Wuhan markets before COVID-19 (Sci Rep) 4:58
Dengue control by Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes (NEJM) 32:36
Fatal dengue in Florida (NEJM) 59:37
Letters read on TWiV 776 1:08:00
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:36:14

Brianne – You Know You’ve Worked Too Long in a Lab When…
Alan – Massachusetts vaccine lottery
Vincent – Coonhound paralysis

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 775: COVID-19 clinical update #69 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

July 3, 2021

In COVID-19 clinical update #69, Daniel Griffin covers effectiveness of mRNA vaccines against the delta variant, depression among public health workers, correlates of protection against asymptomatic and symptomatic infection, BNT162b2 in ChAdOx-1-S primed individuals, prior infection rescues B and T cell responses to variants after vaccination, effect of vaccination on household transmission, germinal responses induced by mRNA vaccines, phase 3 results of Novavax vaccine, and long COVID as our next national health disaster.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 775 (27 MB .mp3, 44 min)
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Links for this episode

Worry about human behavior, not variants (NY Times) 3:53
Moderna and Pfizer vaccines vs delta variant 9:02
Depression among public health workers (MMWR) 13:55
Correlates of protection (medRxiv) 17:11
mRNA vaccine in AZ recipients (Lancet) 19:26
Prior infection rescues B and T cell responses to variants (Science) 22:28
Effect of vaccination on household transmission (NEJM) 24:33
mRNA vaccines induce germinal responses (Nature) 27:04
Novavax vaccine phase 3 results (NEJM) 28:46
EUA for tocilizumab (FDA) 33:03
Long COVID, next national health disaster (NEJM) 35:14
Letters read on TWiV 775 36:44
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 774: Kristian Andersen, Robert Garry, and the deleted SARS-CoV-2 sequences

July 1, 2021

Kristian Andersen and Robert Garry join TWiV to discuss recovery of deleted deep sequencing data from early in the Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, and whether they shed light on the early phase of the outbreak.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guests: Kristian Andersen and Robert Garry

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Download TWiV 774 (63 MB .mp3, 104 min)
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Links for this episode

Andersen laboratory 3:15
Recovery of deleted deep sequencing data (bioRxiv) 1:50, 22:24
Animal sales from Wuhan wet markets (Sci Rep) 45:50
Danielle Anderson on Wuhan Lab (Bloomberg) 1:18:20
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:35:46

Kathy – STEVE over Copper Harbor, MI
Vincent – Human Behavior During the Pandemic Is More Important Than Any Covid Variant

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 773: Laurie Garrett, pandemic prophet

June 27, 2021

Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague, joins TWiV for a wide-ranging discussion of infectious disease and public health, including emerging infections, the role of wildlife markets in spillovers, and missteps in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Laurie Garrett

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Download TWiV 773 (68 MB .mp3, 113 min)
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Links for this episode

Lauriegarrett.com 00:58
The Coming Plague 10:22
Betrayal of Trust 20:39
Trump sabotaged coronavirus response (Foreign Policy) 1:11:09
ASV Vaccine Town Hall 1:45:16
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:45:51

Brianne – A Pivotal Mosquito Experiment Could Not Have Gone Better
Kathy – Microbiology at the Movies
Vincent – When a Good Scientist Is the Wrong Source

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 772: COVID-19 clinical update #68 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

June 26, 2021

In COVID-19 clinical update #68, Daniel Griffin discusses children acquiring infection at birthday parties, immunogenicity of vaccines in solid organ transplant patients, reinfection rates in recovered patients, lack of efficacy of azithromycin, bacterial and fungal infections in hospitalized patients, effect of monoclonal antibody treatment on clinical outcomes of ambulatory patients, and reduction in mortality of hospitalized patients treated with remedesivir.