This Week in Virology

TWiV 543: Stoned and senile

April 14, 2019

The TWiV team discusses Medusavirus, isolated from a hot spring in Japan, and induction of neurodegeneration by recurrent herpes simplex virus 1 infection of mice.

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

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Links for this episode

Medusavirus (J Virol) 20:42
Recurrent herpes simplex virus-1 and Alzheimer’s (PLoS Path) 42:35
Image credit
Letters read on TWiV 543 3:06, 1:05:38
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks 1:24:17

Brianne – How to Take a Picture of a Black Hole
Alan – Jupiter Marble image
Rich – NASA Commercial Crew Program; How SpaceX and Boeing will get Astronauts to the ISS; Everyday Astronaut
Dickson – Sky-High Stunners
Kathy – Arts at Michigan photo winners and UM Microscopy Core image contest winners
Vincent – NYC declares emergency over measles outbreak, mandates vaccinations and EMDataResource

Listener Pick

Martin – Sydney Brenner passes

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

Vincent travels to Microbiotix, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company in Worcester, MA to speak with four members of the company about their discovery and development of small molecule drugs that target serious infectious diseases.

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Terry Bowlin, Zach Aron, Grace Lui, and Islam Hussein

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Download TWiV 542 (40 MB .mp3, 65 min)
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Links for this episode

Microbiotix, Inc. 00:35, 9:09
MBX-400 12:48
Microbiotix pipeline
Microbiotix publications 47:25
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Listener Pick 1:01:36

Islam – How to successfully collaborate with industry

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 541: Cloaking devices

March 31, 2019

The TWiVers present mitoviruses, which infect mitochondria, and how quasi-enveloped hepatitis A virus gets naked again.

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

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Links for this episode

Evidence for plant mitoviruses (Virology) 9:44
Uncoating of quasi-enveloped HAV (eLife) 21:21
Image credit
Letters read on TWiV 541 1:02:39
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks 1:16:27

Alan – Where and when to see cherry blossoms
Dickson – Nebraska floods
Kathy – Peeps fungal infection experiment
Vincent – Emergency declared in NY over measles, unvaccinated barred from public spaces

Listener Pick

Sam – STLR conversations
Josh – Tree of Life

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 540: Wascally wiruses

March 24, 2019

The TWiVstars reveal the diversity of herpes simplex virus type 2 in a neonatal population, and parallel adaptation of rabbits in three countries to myxoma virus.

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

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Download TWiV 540 (66 MB .mp3, 109 min)
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Links for this episode

Diversity of HSV2 in neonates (mSphere) 23:18
Adaptation of rabbits to myxoma virus (Science) 49:16
Principal component analysis (YouTube) 1:02:30
Image credit
Letters read on TWiV 540 3:05, 1:22:46
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks 1:35:33

Alan – The Quarters
Rich – Brian May – New Horizons (Ultima Thule Mix) [Official Music Video]
Dickson – How rats became an inescapable part of city living
Kathy – Principal Component Analysis (short longer) and Educational Material about Influenza Viruses
Vincent – Why “chickenpox parties” are a terrible idea—in case it’s not obvious

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 539: Multitudes contain me

March 17, 2019

The TWiV hosts present two potentially seminal papers, on long-distance chemoattraction of a host by a chlorovirus, and replication of a nanovirus across multiple cells in a plant.

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

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Download TWiV 539 (62 MB .mp3, 102 min)
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Links for this episode

Paul Has Measles now in German (virology blog) 8:42
Chloroviruses lure hosts (J Virol) 21:04
Multicellular replication in plants (eLife) 37:37
Image credit
Letters read on TWiV 539 11:18, 1:05:14
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks 1:22:49

Brianne – Why Do So Many Scientists Want to be Filmmakers
Alan – Better boarding method airlines won’t use
Dickson – Mass timber building
Kathy – What organisms to study flow chart
Vincent – World Pulls Andon Cord on 737 MAX

Listener Pick

Richard – The Real Cost of Knowledge
Islam – 200 icosahedral viruses poster
Mike – Post-Doc Me Now

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 538: An Iowa caucus of viruses

March 10, 2019

TWiV travels to the University of Iowa to speak with Wendy Maury and Stanley Perlman about their research on Ebolavirus entry and coronavirus pathogenesis.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

Guests: Wendy Maury and Stanley Perlman

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Download TWiV 538 (37 MB .mp3, 62 min)
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Links for this episode

TIM-1 is receptor for Ebolaviruses (Proc Natl Acad Sci) 19:50
TIM-1 is receptor for Lassa virus (J Virol) 29:13
SARS coronavirus causes neuronal death (J Virol) 36:45
T cells and IL-10 in viral demyelination (J Neuroimmunol) 39:53
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 537: Boundary issues

March 3, 2019

The Scholars of the Podcast reveal ribosomal proteins encoded in viral genomes, and a protein cell receptor for bat influenza viruses.

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

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Download TWiV 537 (63 MB .mp3, 104 min)
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Weekly Science Picks 1:20:37

Brianne – Yes, I’m a Scientist on Twitter. Stop Judging Me.
Alan – Impact of vaccines, graphed in heat maps
Dickson – Treehoppers
Kathy – World watershed maps
Rich – Gene Machine by Venki Ramakrishnan
Vincent – House hearing on measles outbreak (ASM comment)

Listener Pick

Jordan – Facebook may remove anti-vaccine recommendations

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 536: A flock of seagulls, a herd of seals

February 24, 2019

Vincent and Alan travel to Tufts Veterinary School where they meet up with members of the Runstadler lab to talk about their work on influenza virus circulation in water birds and seals.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Alan Dove

Guests: Jonathan Runstadler, Nichola Hill, Wendy Puryear, and Kate Sawatzki

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Download TWiV 536 (54 MB .mp3, 96 min)
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Links for this episode

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine 3:20
Influenza virus in North Atlantic grey seals (Emerg Microbes infect) 40:16
Influenza viruses in Alaskan wild birds (Emerg Inf Dis) 32:30
Wild bird influenza virus replication in human cells (Infect Genet Evol) 1:09:54
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 535: Miles to go before I leak

February 17, 2019

The TWiV team discuss the use of quantum dots to study uncoating of influenza virus in real time, and induction of endothelial dysfunction by flavivirus NS1 proteins in a tissue-specific manner.

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

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Download TWiV 535 (58 MB .mp3, 96 min)
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Links for this episode

European Congress of Virology 2019 2:48
ASM Clinical Virology Symposium 4:40
Intel ISEF judges needed 4:53
Quantum dots to visualize influenza entry (PNAS) 10:34
Quantum dots (Wikipedia) 11:26
Flavivirus NS1 triggers endothelial dysfunction (Cell Rep) 36:42
Image credit
Letters read on TWiV 535 2:58, 5:39, 1:11:03
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks 1:19:29

Brianne – Hotel Influenza
Alan – Your town’s climate in 60 years
Dickson – BMC Research in Progress Photo Competition
Rich – NASA’s Opportunity Rover Mission on Mars Ends (landing animation)
Vincent – Watch a single cell become a complex organism in six minutes

Listener Pick

Anne – Pathogenesis II Kickstarter

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiV 534: Portal to the METTL

February 10, 2019

The TWiV crew reveal a unique portal on the calcivirus capsid formed upon receptor engagement, and the regulation of interferon responses in virus-infected cells by methylation of mRNA.

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

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Download TWiV 534 (57 MB .mp3, 95 min)
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