This Week in Virology

TWiV 697: The sky is NOT falling

December 24, 2020

TWiV reviews the latest data on the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2, including some properties of the variant and why it is being closely studied, development of liver cancer in a participant in a adenovirus-associated virus gene therapy trial, and answers to listener questions.

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

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Links for this episode

BSL-3 Assistant Manager position 2:24
NERVTAG meeting minutes (pdf) 6:41
NERVTAG 5:55, 36:59
Preliminary genomic characterization of UK variant (virological.org) 37:11
PHE investigation of UK variant (pdf) 37:55
N501Y does not affect antibody neutralization (Science, eLife) 47:52
WHO notice on UK variant (WHO) 1:10:30
Liver tumor during AAV gene therapy (Science) 1:13:02
Letters read on TWiV 697 1:18:29
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 2:03:01

Brianne – EM Rap Podcast COVID update
Kathy – Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and Tony Fauci vaccinated Santa Claus
Rich – Chicken LIttle (wiki)
Vincent – virological.org

Listener Pick

Greg – Someone who wants to make a difference
Uli – XKCD on statistics

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 696: Tear down that SARS-CoV-2 manuscript

December 20, 2020

TWiV explains that COVID-19 is not harmless for young adults, FAA approval for Pfizer mRNA vaccine, lack of justification for the claim of reverse transcription of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and integration into the human genome, and lack of evidence for increased transmission by new variants in the UK.

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

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Download TWiV 696 (79 MB .mp3, 130 min)
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Weekly Science Picks 1:55:44

Dickson – 2020 Audubon Photography Winners
Brianne – COVID-19 Changed Science Forever
Alan – Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
Rich – Lie of the Year: Coronavirus downplay and denial; John 18:38
Vincent – How New York City Vaccinated 6 Million People in Less Than a Month (my article from 2009)

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 695: COVID-19 clinical update #41 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

December 18, 2020

Daniel Griffin provides his weekly clinical report on COVID-19, including thoughts on the first immunizations with Pfizer mRNA vaccine, the anticipated EUA for the Moderna vaccine, whether the vaccine prevents infection, not just disease, monoclonal antibody therapy, and much more.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 695 (25 MB .mp3, 42 min)
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Links for this episode

FDA EUA for Pfizer mRNA vaccine (FDA) 26:33
Ellume at-home SARS-CoV-2 antigen test (Ellume) 10:07
Pre-K through grade 12 COVID-19 mitigation costs (MMWR) 11:46
Letters read on TWiV 695 37:45
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 694: Mitigating COVID-19

December 17, 2020

On this episode, TWiV makes Bloomberg Business News 2020 Jealousy List, crushing of CDC revealed by insiders, seasonal influenza during the COVID-19 pandemic, FDA briefing documents from Moderna, and three-quarters attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 during an unmitigated epidemic in Brazil.

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

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Download TWiV 694 (66 MB .mp3, 111 min)
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Links for this episode

BSL-3 Assistant Manager position 3:39
TWiV makes Bloomberg Business News 2020 Jealousy List (BBN) 5:25
Crushing of the CDC (NY Times) 11:02
Seasonal influenza during COVID-19 pandemic (jpg) 17:05
Moderna briefing documents (FDA) 20:20
Three-quarters attack rate in Brazil (Science) 27:39
Outdoor transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (J Inf Dis) 1:27:43
Rich Condit reminisces (YouTube) 1:48:46
Letters read on TWiV 694 58:19
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:34:05

Brianne – Fears of a ‘Twindemic’ Recede as Flu Lies Low
Kathy – Faculty Equity & COVID-19 UM ADVANCE
Rich – ‘Sistine Chapel of the ancients’ rock art
Vincent – Winners of ASM Agar Art Contest 2020

Listener Pick

Johnye – 2020 Year of the Vax t-shirt (and more)

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 693: Vax to the future

December 13, 2020

On this episode, FDA EUA for Pfizer mRNA vaccine, efficacy of AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine, and an orally administered drug that blocks SARS-CoV-2 transmission in ferrets.

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

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Links for this episode

BSL-3 laboratory assistant manager position 1:51
FDA advisory committee votes in favor of EUA for Pfizer vaccine (NY Times) 3:18
Sanofi/Glaxo subunit vaccine steps back (Stat) 7:59
Efficacy of ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine (Lancet) 12:59
Oral antiviral blocks SARS-CoV-2 transmission in ferrets (Nat Micro) 40:13
Letters read on TWiV 693 59:12
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks 1:42:53

Dickson – 2020 In Photos: A Year Like No Other
Brianne – Cooking for Geeks
Alan – On Food and Cooking
Rich – NASA Artemis (Wiki)
Vincent – The virus, the bats, and us

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 692: COVID-19 clinical update #40 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

December 11, 2020

Daniel Griffin provides his weekly clinical report on COVID-19, including the anticipated EUA for the Pfizer mRNA vaccine, mitigation strategies in early care and education settings, expressive aphasia, and much more.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 692 (23 MB .mp3, 38 min)
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Links for this episode

Mitigation strategies in early care and education settings (MMWR) 5:28
WHO solidarity trial results (NEJM) 26:27
Letters read on TWiV 692 31:30
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 691: SciArt with Laura Splan

December 10, 2020

SciArtist Laura Splan joins TWiV to reveal her transdisciplinary work that intersects science, technology, design and culture, then we discuss an inverse correlation between mumps virus antibodies induced by MMR vaccine and COVID-19 severity, and whether ivermectin is indicated for treatment of COVID-19.

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

Guest: Laura Splan

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Download TWiV 691 (79 MB .mp3, 132 min)
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Links for this episode

Laura Splan website 57:56, 1:05:08
BSL-3 Assistant Manager position 1:07:35
MMR titers in recovered COVID-19 patients (mBio) 1:12:06
Ivermectin and SARS-CoV-2 (TWiV 599) 1:30:55
Treatment of COVID-19 with ivermectin (Int J Inf Dis) 1:32:08
Ivermectin approved dosing (Mayo Clinic) 1:34:00
Briefing document for Pfizer vaccine (FDA) 1:38:29
Vaccinated? Wear a mask (NY Times) 1:44:19
Efficacy of ChAdOx1 vaccine (Lancet) 1:47:43
Mix & Match Pfizer & Oxford jabs (Times Long) 1:48:08
SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Seattle (medRxiv) 1:50:04
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks 1:51:36

Brianne – Patterns for Virus snowflakes
Kathy – 2020 Nobel Prize lectures (hepatitis C) (link to all and concert) Historical review by Harvey Alter
Rich – New Data Confirm 2020 SO is Upper Centaur Rocket Booster from 1960’s (Wiki)
Vincent – The Right Stuff

Listener Pick

Miikael – Tiny tweak behind COVID-19 vaccines

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 690: This is your brain on SARS-CoV-2

December 6, 2020

TWiV reviews the difficulties in predicting species susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection by only examining the ACE2 protein, and the olfactory mucosa as a portal of entry into the central nervous system in COVID-19 patients.

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

Guest: Amy Rosenfeld

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Download TWiV 690 (71 MB .mp3, 120 min)
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Links for this episode

NYC will create pandemic response institute (NY Bus J) 3:21
Comparison of ACE2 in vertebrates (PNAS) 14:10
Olfactory transmucosal invasion of CNS by SARS-CoV-2 (Nat Neurosci) 40:28
Letters read on TWiV 690 1:06:23
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks 1:38:52

Dickson – National Geographic best animal photos of 2020
Amy – American Contagions: Epidemics and the law from Smallpox to COVID-19 by John Fabian Witt
Alan – HamSCI citizen science organization
Rich – DeepMind’s AI makes gigantic leap in solving protein structures
Vincent – Army Ants: Nature’s Ultimate Social Hunters by Daniel Kronauer

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 689: COVID-19 clinical update #39 with Dr. Daniel Griffin

December 5, 2020

Daniel Griffin provides his weekly clinical report on COVID-19, including analysis of vitamin D levels in patients, information on Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, distribution plans suggested by ACIP, and more.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Download TWiV 689 (22 MB .mp3, 37 min)
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Links for this episode

Vitamin D levels in COVID-19 patients (Nature) 5:38
ACIP recommendations for distribution of COVID-19 vaccine (MMWR) 11:47
Updated CDC guidance on when to quarantine (CDC) 20:49
Letters read on TWiV 689 29:22
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 688: We put COVID-19 papers through a sieve

December 3, 2020

On this episode, UK grants EUA for Pfizer vaccine, advice for CDC on who to immunize first, news from Das Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 protease regulates innate responses, and viral mRNAs are not an indication of viral replication.