This Week in Virology

TWiV 656: See, it can be done!

August 23, 2020

Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19, surgeons Lisa Smith and David Bruce detail how they have helped their Chattanooga community during the pandemic, then we discuss racial and ethnic disparities among COVID-19 cases, no more premarket review of laboratory developed tests by FDA; and emergency use authorization of convalescent plasma is on hold.

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

Guests: Daniel Griffin, Lisa A. Smith, and W. David Bruce

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 656 (85 MB .mp3, 141 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Racial and ethnic disparities in workplace COVID-19 (CDC) 2:00:44
Rescission of guidances on laboratory tests (FDA) 1:51:13
EUA on convalescent plasma on hold (NY Times) 1:52:54
Letters read on TWiV 656 2:03:29
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 655: Minority health with Robert Fullilove

August 20, 2020

Sociomedical scientist Robert Fullilove joins TWiV to discuss disparities in minority health; FDA announces an EUA on Yale’s SalivaDirect, protection of the upper and respiratory tract of mice after intranasal inoculation with an adenovirus-vectored SARS-CoV-2 spike gene, and listener questions.

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

Guest: Robert Fullilove

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 655 (88 MB .mp3, 147 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Health of racial and ethnic minority groups (CDC) 24:39
COVID-19 death/hospitalization by race/ethnicity (CDC) 19:20
Racial and ethnic disparities in workplace COVID-19 (CDC) 21:30
College Behind Bars (PBS)
SalivaDirect EUA (FDA) 1:10:54
Adenovirus vectored SARS-CoV-2 experimental vaccine protects mice (Nat Comm) 1:18:27
Letters read on TWiV 655 1:01:12, 1:17:12, 1:28:52
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 654: TWiVering with excitement

August 16, 2020

Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19 and the convalescent plasma trial, then we answer listener questions about the Russian vaccine, choir practice, face masks (wear them!), Mina testing, transmission, and much more.

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

Guests: Daniel Griffin and Chuck Knirsch

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 654 (93 MB .mp3, 156 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Daniel’s recommendations for COVID-19 testing (pdf) 25:16
Effects of convalescent plasma on COVID-19 (medRxiv) 26:05
ESCV virtual meeting on COVID-19 45:23
The Russian Vaccine (In The Pipeline) 1:02:20
Russia’s vaccine approval (Science) 1:02:09
Letters read on TWiV 654 32:25, 47:31
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 653: Back to school with COVID-19

August 14, 2020

Alfonso, Ken, Mary and Janet join TWiV to explain their modeling of school reopening strategies during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Rich Condit

Guests: Alfonso Landeros, Ken Lange, Mary E. Sehl, and Janet Sinsheimer

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 653 (34 MB .mp3, 56 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

School reopening strategies (medRxiv) 1:46
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 652: The rules of contagion with Adam Kucharski

August 13, 2020

Epidemiologist Adam Kucharski joins TWiV to discuss SARS-CoV-2, including R0, incubation period, herd immunity, asymptomatic infection, superspreaders, children as drivers of pandemics, and how this one will end.

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

Guest: Adam Kucharski

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 652 (69 MB .mp3, 114 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

The Rules of Contagion (Amazon affiliate link) 2:16
Overdispersion in SARS-CoV-2 transmission (Wellcome Open Res) 40:13
Sorrento Therapeutics test 1:08:59
In vitro diagnostics EUAs (FDA) 1:10:40
Letters read on TWiV 652 1:07:41
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 651: FDA rules with Denise Esposito

August 9, 2020

Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19, then former FDA Chief of Staff to the Commissioner Denise Esposito joins us to explain the challenges in approving vaccines, antiviral drugs, and diagnostic tests during a pandemic, followed by answers to listener questions.

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

Guests: Daniel Griffin and Denise Esposito

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 651 (98 MB .mp3, 164 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Template for at-home, OTC diagnostic tests (FDA) 1:33:37
Postdoctoral position in Prasad laboratory (pdf) 1:39:40
Rapidtests.org 1:40:46
Masks are cool, Miasma t-shirts (CafePress) 1:41:28
Letters read on TWiV 651 23:52, 1:44:49
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 650: Virology is infinite

August 6, 2020

In this mid-week episode of Earth’s Virology Podcast, we analyze SARS-CoV-2 transmission among youths at a summer camp, adaptation to mice by passage, the importance of T cells for recovery from COVID-19, and listener questions.

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

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 650 (73 MB .mp3, 122 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Travis County indicators dashboard 3:07
SARS-CoV-2 transmission at an overnight camp (MMWR) 11:45
Adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 in mice (Science) 22:54, 24:53
Acute SARS-CoV-2 infection impairs DC and T cell responses (Imm) 40:28
Boulder, Columbia, Illinois rapid saliva tests 1:12:28
Letter drafts for $1 testing 1:55:18, 2:00:03
Letters read on TWiV 650 1:07:48
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks 1:58:38

Kathy – BBC Witness History, Maurice Hilleman 9 minute audio (quotes by Paul Offit) “The fastest vaccine ever developed”And APOD Picture Rocks Sun Dagger

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 649: Ohio State viral

August 4, 2020

Vincent visits Ohio State University (March 2020) and speaks with Shan-Lu, David, Amanda, Mark, Matt, Chris, and Qiuhong about their careers and their work on retroviruses, hepatitis C virus, coronaviruses, paramyxoviruses, and environmental viruses.

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Shan-Lu Liu, David Bisaro, Amanda Panfill, Mark Peeples, Matt Sullivan, Chris Walker, Qiuhong Wang

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 649 (63 MB .mp3, 105 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

New virus requires international control (Nature) 26:00
TIM-family proteins inhibit HIV-1 release (PNAS) 35:50
Designing a HCV vaccine (Curr Op Virol) 42:58
Attenuated vaccines for RSV in children (J Inf Dis) 57:25
Plant histone reader suppresses geminivirus infection (J Virol) 1:04:55
HTLV-associated malignancy (Curr Op Virol) 1:11:54
Coronaviruses in pigs (Curr Op Virol) 1:21:36
Marine DNA viral diversity pole to pole (Cell) 1:35:30
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 648: Life is for learning

August 2, 2020

Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19, followed by a review of the findings that children shed as much SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA from the respiratory tract as older patients, the lineage giving rise to SARS-CoV-2 has been circulating in bats in China for decades, and answers to listener questions.

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

Guest: Daniel Griffin and Chuck Knirsch

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 648 (105 MB .mp3, 175 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Roche trial of Actemra for COVID-19 fails (Reuters) 23:58
Postdoctoral position at RML 55:11
Shedding of SARS-CoV-2 at different ages (JAMA Ped) 57:27
Evolutionary origins of SARS-CoV-2 (Nat Microbio) 1:10:08
Letters read on TWiV 648 29:07, 1:42:01
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 647: Testing is our way out of this crisis

July 30, 2020

In this mid-week TWiV, children under 10 do transmit SARS-CoV-2, why hydroxychloroquine does not work for treating COVID-19, scale-up of diagnostic testing, explanation of LAMP testing, and listener questions.