This Week in Virology

TWiV 737: SARS-CoV-2 in NYC wastewater

April 1, 2021

John, Monica, and Davida join TWiV to discuss development of a method to detect SARS-CoV-2 in raw sewage from all 14 of New York City’s treatment plants, and its use to determine the presence of the genome throughout the pandemic and detection of genome mutations from variants of concern.

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

Guest: John Dennehy, Davida Smyth, and Monica Trujillo

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Links for this episode

Protocol for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater (medRxiv) 23:34, 1:03:42
Mutations from VOC in NYC wastewater (medRxiv) 50:42, 1:03:50
WHO report on COVID-19 origins (pdf) 1:04:05
Effectiveness of mRNA vaccines at preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection (MMWR) 1:28:07
Prothrombic thrombocytopenic disorder after AZ vaccine (Res Square) 1:32:56
NIDO 2021 Symposium 1:01:38
Postdoctoral position at Towson University
ASV hosts free COVID-19 Vaccine Education Town Halls (register here) 1:02:14
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:45:00

Dickson – 250,000 Dominoes
Brianne – Using RT-PCR in COVID-19 Testing
Rich – Beaded Lacewings Can Take Down Six Termites With A Single Fart
Kathy – Tracking the COVID code
Vincent – Administering vaccines to adults

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 736: Rhapsody in T with Alessandro Sette

March 28, 2021

Alessandro Sette joins TWiV to discuss the role of T cells in COVID-19, the finding that amino acid changes in SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern have a negligible impact on T cell reactivity in convalescent patients and vaccinees, and whether a next generation vaccine should include more viral proteins than spike.

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

Guest: Alessandro Sette

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Download TWiV 736 (73 MB .mp3, 122 min)
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Links for this episode

Little impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on T cell reactivity (bioRxiv) 6:28, 25:13
NIDO 2021 Symposium 1:12:02
Postdoctoral position at Towson University 1:15:08
ASV hosts free COVID-19 Vaccine Education Town Halls (register here) 1:12:38
Letters read on TWiV 736 1:30:06
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:46:29

Alan – The Disinformation Dozen report
Rich – No needle, but the damage was done
Kathy – Zinn art David Zinn
Vincent – Clueless Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Endorses PACE as “Prevailing View” Among Docs

Listener Picks

Justin – Finnish astrophotographer spends 12 years creating a Milky Way mosaic

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 735: COVID-19 clinical update #55 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

March 27, 2021

In COVID-19 clinical update #55, Daniel Griffin reviews recommendations for keeping transmission low in school settings, optimal testing strategies for schools and businesses, impact of vaccines on asymptomatic infections, vaccine safety in PASC patients, and early use of aspirin associated with decreased mortality.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 735 (24 MB .mp3, 40 min)
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COVID-19 in primary and secondary schools (MMWR) 3:37
Low transmission in elementary schools (MMWR) 6:16
COVID-19 testing guidance (CDC) 7:45
COVID-19 vaccines and asymptomatic infections (Clin Inf Dis) 15:29
Vaccine safety in long COVID (medRxiv) 17:48
Phase 3 results of antibody cocktail (Regeneron) 22:56
Aspirin associated with decreased mortality (Anesth Analg) 24:40
Post-acute long COVID-19 syndrome (Nat Med) 26:31
Timing, duration, health impact of PASC (medRxiv) 27:30
Persistent neurologic and cognitive dysfunction in PASC (Ann Clin Trans Neurol) 30:07
Letters read on TWiV 735 32:36
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 734: Weiss hath no furin like a virus scorned

March 21, 2021

Susan Weiss returns to TWiV to discuss coronavirus entry into cells and the role of spike protein cleavage by proteases, why lab escaped hypotheses for SARS-CoV-2 are unlikely, and modulation of innate immune responses during infection.

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

Guest: Susan Weiss

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Download TWiV 734 (79 MB .mp3, 131 min)
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Links for this episode

ASV hosts free COVID-19 Vaccine Education Town Halls (register here) 3:21
CoV pathogenesis in CNS (J Neuro Pharm)
SARS-CoV-2 induces dsRNA-mediated innate responses (bioRxiv) 47:30
Screen of FDA-approved drugs (J Viral) 58:14
Letters read on TWiV 734 1:09:27
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:55:18

Brianne – Tiktok of How mRNA Vaccines Work
Alan – Dark
Rich – Unmixing Color Machine (Ultra Laminar Reversible Flow) – Smarter Every Day 217
Amy – MOMA Calder exhibit, reviewed in NYTimes
Vincent – Ripple Training (free YouTube channel)

Listener Picks

Ruth – 100 million year old seafloor bacteria resuscitated
Iradis – Linda Zall, CIA spy for science

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 733: COVID-19 clinical update #54 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

March 20, 2021

In COVID-19 clinical update #54, Daniel Griffin covers effectiveness of 3 vs 6 ft physical distancing, effectiveness of masks, physical distancing, and eye shields, second vaccine dose completion, alleviation of COVID-19 symptoms after vaccination, vaccine trials in children, and IDSA approval of a mAb cocktail.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 733 (27 MB .mp3, 45 min)
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Links for this episode

Effectiveness of 3 ft vs 6 ft (CID) 3:56
Effect of physical distancing, masks, eye protection (Lancet) 9:40
Vaccine second dose completion (MMWR) 14:59
IDSA mAb recommendations (IDSA) 19:58
Letters read on TWiV 733 24:04
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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

TWiV 732: Citizen science with Forest Rohwer and Maria-Isabel Rojas

March 18, 2021

Forest and Maria-Isabel join TWiV to discuss their their project to engage thousands of citizens to swab inanimate surfaces in the San Diego area, then send the samples to the Rohwer Lab for nucleic acid analysis.

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

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Download TWiV 732 (67 MB .mp3, 112 min)
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Links for this episode

Forest on TWiV 391 3:03
CoVID-19 Citizen Scientists website 7:11
Swabbing surfaces in San Diego (10News) 10:55
Nido21 meeting 58:59
Molnupiravir in phase 2a (Fierce Biotech) 1:19:08
Letters read on TWiV 732 1:00:17, 1:44:50
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:34:05

Dickson – 10 amazing science tricks with liquids
Brianne – How Do Blind Worms See the Color Blue?
Rich – Statewide Study Shows Evidence Of Significant COVID-19 Antibodies In Children
Kathy – Dark side of the moon as it crosses Earth
Vincent – Wasdkeyboards and Novelkeys

Listener Pick

Bronwen – COVID Performance Index

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 731: The kids aren’t alright

March 14, 2021

On a TWiV tetramer, we review the ongoing outbreaks of Ebolavirus disease in DRC and Guinea, evidence that SARS-CoV-2 infections in children are far more prevalent than are being detected, and recent long COVID estimates from the UK.

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

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Download TWiV 731 (69 MB .mp3, 115 min)
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Links for this episode

Ebolavirus disease outbreak continues in Africa (ProMedMail) 6:20, 16:28
List of Ebolavirus outbreaks (Wikipedia) 9:28
Ebolavirus genome sequences from Guinea (virological) 13:53
Bias in reporting on childhood SARS-CoV-2 infections (Clinical Inf Dis) 23:46
Estimated SARS-CoV-2 prevalence <18 years (MMWR) 48:35
Estimated burden of SARS-CoV-2 by age group (CDC) 1:01:32
UK long COVID estimates (pdf) 56:00
Space Shuttle fly-by Vincent’s office (YouTube) 46:28
Letters read on TWiV 731 1:05:05
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:35:36

Brianne – Who Would Kidnap a Space Telescope?
Alan – Radio Garden
Rich – Countries with more obesity have had more covid deaths on average
Vincent – Concord Aerospace

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 730: COVID-19 clinical update #53 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

March 13, 2021

In COVID-19 clinical update #53, Daniel Griffin reviews underreporting of infections and long term disease in children, a blood test for T cells, results of phase 3 trials for monoclonal antibodies, preliminary findings on an oral antiviral, clinical trial of ivermectin, and recommendations for upcoming gatherings.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 730 (27 MB .mp3, 45 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 729: A floret of spikes with Matt Frieman

March 11, 2021

Matt Frieman returns to TWiV to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic from the point of view of a coronavirologist, including his work with Novavax on their spike protein-based vaccine.

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

Guest: Matt Frieman

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Download TWiV 729 (70 MB .mp3, 117 min)
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Links for this episode

Phase 1-2 trial of Novavax protein vaccine (NEJM) 33:12
MERS-CoV spike nanoparticle vaccine in mice (Vaccine) 12:52
Novavax phase 3 press release 31:38
When you’ve been fully vaccinated (CDC) 1:26:59
Letters read on TWiV 729 59:02
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:43:29

Dickson – Covid-19 deaths per million ranked by average income
Brianne – KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor for Feb 2021 and KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor Dashboard
Rich – The Woman Who Stood Between America and a Generation of ‘Thalidomide Babies’ (wiki)
Kathy – Quadrantid meteor (Quadrantids)
Vincent – Higher Superstition by Paul Gross and Norman Levitt

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 728: Cover your nose and mouse

March 7, 2021

TWiV notes the passing of Mavis Agbandje-McKenna, and reviews data on maximizing fit for cloth and medical procedure masks, SARS-CoV-2 total and subgenomic viral load in hospitalized patients, and effect of changes in spike protein on efficacy in a mouse model of infection.