This Week in Virology

TWiV 757: Supershedders and super vaccines

May 20, 2021

TWiV reveals that 2% of SARS-CoV-2−positive individuals carry 90% of the virus circulating in a college campus, and a nanoparticle vaccine that induces cross-reactive immunity against multiple pandemic and pre-emergent coronaviruses.

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

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ASV vaccine town halls 2:14
2% of SARS-CoV-2 positives carry most viral RNA (PNAS) 16:29
Pan-coronavirus nanoparticle vaccine (Nature) 33:07
Why HIV-1 particles have few spikes (PLoS Path) 41:33, 1:09:25
Letters read on TWiV 757 10:50, 1:17:07, 1:58:18
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:47:47

Brianne – Darwin’s Arch Collapses
Kathy – The woman who discovered the first coronavirus
Rich – “Richard Feynman: The pleasure of finding things out”
Vincent – CORONA Project

Listener Picks

JH – Fungus kills cicadas
Alan – Liftoff by Eric Berger

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 756: Precluding problematic polio prophylaxis

May 16, 2021

TWiV returns to the 2012 brouhaha over transmission experiments with avian H5N1 influenza virus, re-examines the claim of SARS-CoV-2 RNA integration into human DNA, and reviews the engineering and testing of a genetically stable version of the attenuated type 2 Sabin poliovirus vaccine.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Amy Rosenfeld

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Download TWiV 756 (80 MB .mp3, 134 min)
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Weekly Picks 1:50:53

Dickson – Five Deeps
Amy – Premonition by Michael Lewis
Alan – The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr
Rich – The Way Ferrofluid Floats Above a Superconductor Is Unreal
Vincent – Threading the NEIDL

Listener Picks

Iradis – SN15 Launch and Landing
Blue Pilgrim – Howland Garden Tools

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 755: COVID-19 clinical update #62 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

May 15, 2021

In COVID-19 clinical update #62, Daniel Griffin covers outdoor transmission of the virus, safe use of NSAIDS, expansion of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to include 12-15 year olds, post-disease Mucormycosis, and hydroxychloroquine treatment associated with increased mortality.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 755 (25 MB .mp3, 41 min)
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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 754: Tuesday two: SARS-CoV-2 and TLR2

May 13, 2021

TWiV discusses the finding that the envelope (E) protein of SARS-CoV-2 is sensed by toll-like receptor 2 on cells, leading to the production of inflammatory cytokines that cause damage to cells and tissues in COVID-19.

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

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Download TWiV 754 (58 MB .mp3, 96 min)
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Links for this episode

ASV vaccine town halls 2:38
Michelson Prizes 5:51
FDA authorizes Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine for adolescents (FDA) 8:09
TLR2 senses SARS-CoV-2 E protein (Nat Imm) 12:19
Review on CoV E protein (Virology J) 34:12
Letters read on TWiV 754 54:56
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:23:21

Brianne – Lab.Hacks Lab Assistant App
Rich – Weird viral DNA spills secrets to biologists; COVAX
Kathy – Planet Earth Now
Vincent – Variants at ViralZone

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 753: The ferret nose where the virus goes

May 9, 2021

TWiV revisits Brazil’s rejection of Sputnik vaccine, examines influenza transmission via the air from the nasal epithelium of ferrets, and a history of accidental releases of polioviruses and their relevance for eradication of poliomyelitis.

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

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Download TWiV 753 (62 MB .mp3, 103 min)
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Links for this episode

ASV vaccine town halls 3:16
Sputnik Light 7:10
Ferret airborne transmission of influenza virus (Nat Comm) 24:07
Facility releases of poliovirus (Emerg Inf Dis) 1:02:07
Polio eradication progress (Polio Erad Init) 1:10:12
Letters read on TWiV 753 6:44, 1:39:25
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:25:27

Dickson – Exotic mantis
Brianne – Types of Scientific Paper
Alan – Rusty Lake Games / Cube Escape Collection
Rich – The Departed Could Soon Become Compost in Colorado; Recompose (wiki)
Vincent – Public Health Image Library

Listener Picks

Ivan – Apollo 11: As They Shot It

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 752: COVID-19 clinical update #61 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

May 8, 2021

In COVID-19 clinical update #61, Daniel Griffin reviews a modeling of future hospitalizations and deaths by vaccination rates and non pharmaceutical intervention scenarios, performance evaluation of rapid antigen tests, children making up a growing share of new cases, antibody response to mRNA vaccine in solid organ transplant recipients, and outcomes in hospitalized patients treated with tocilizumab.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 752 (26 MB .mp3, 44 min)
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Links for this episode

Modeling future COVID-19 cases (MMWR) 4:55
Performance of rapid antigen tests (Ann Int Med) 8:23
Children are growing share of infections (AAP News) 14:06
Tocilizumab in hospitalized patients (Lancet) 27:01
Letters read on TWiV 752 34:38
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 751: Sputnik spat and furin in ferrets

May 6, 2021

TWiV examines the claim by Brazil’s ANVISA that the Sputnik vaccine contains replication-competent adenovirus, and a role for the furin cleavage site in SARS-CoV-2 spike for efficient reproduction in the respiratory tract, evasion of antiviral IFITM proteins, and transmission in ferrets.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

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Download TWiV 751 (78 MB .mp3, 83 min)
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Links for this episode

ASV vaccine town halls 3:15
Brazil rejects Gamaleya vaccine (Sci Transl Med) 5:07
Russian vaccine behavior (Sci Transl Med) 5:13
Is Gamaleya vaccine safe? (Science) 28:29
Furin cleavage site in replication and transmission (Nat Micro) 35:02, 43:04
Furin site loss attenuates pathogenesis (Nature) 42:12
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:22:29

Rich – The diversity and function of sourdough starter microbiomes; Dunn Lab Wild Sourdough Project
Kathy – ISS, Crew Dragon, and the sun Doubly warped world of binary black holes
Vincent – Mr. Labman

Listener Picks

Joy – Abandoned America: Matthew Christopher’s Autopsy of the American Dream

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 750: To err is viral

May 2, 2021

The TWiVmeisters discuss how copy-back defective viral genomes might modulate the clinical outcome of respiratory syncytial virus infection, and detection of antibodies to henipa- and filo-like viruses in Trinidad bats.

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

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Download TWiV 750 (78 MB .mp3, 83 min)
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Links for this episode

Vaccine education town halls (ASV) 1:59
RSV cpDVG may influence clinical outcome (Nat Micro) 5:06
Henipa- and filo-like viruses in Trinidad bats (J Inf Dis) 58:12
Nice image of cpDVG generation
Letters read on TWiV 750 1:12:01
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:41:52

Dickson – Olympus Image of the Year Award
Alan – We need to improve the welfare of life science trainees
Rich – Sheldrick Wildlife Trust; The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary
Kathy – Aria Code Nessun dorma podcast
Vincent – Covariants

Listener Picks

Justin – How Pfizer Makes Its Covid-19 Vaccine

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 749: COVID-19 clinical update #60 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

May 1, 2021

In COVID-19 clinical update #60, Daniel Griffin summarizes CDC guidance for summer camps, how to protect yourself when fully vaccinated, updated recommendation for J&J vaccine, declining global case fatality rate, and characterization of post-acute sequelae.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 749 (24 MB .mp3, 40 min)
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Become a patron of TWiV!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 748: SARS-CoV-2 gets a sense of humoral

April 25, 2021

A TWiV trio explains a method for sequencing single genomes of SARS-CoV-2 and its use to explore in-host evolution drive by antibody responses, and incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis in COVID-19 patients and vaccine recipients.