This Week in Virology

TWiV 228: Cal Bears go viral

April 14, 2013

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Britt Glaunsinger, and Eva Harris

Vincent visits the University of California at Berkeley and speaks with Britt Glaunsinger and Eva Harris about their work on Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus and dengue virus.

Thanks to the Microbiology Graduate Students for hosting me at their annual symposium, and especially to Emma, Lisa, and Zoe for their wonderful hospitality during my stay.

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Download TWiV 228 (49 MB .mp3, 68 min)
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Links for this episode:

RNA element in IL-6 confers SOX resistance (J Virol)
Dual uORFs regulate herpesviral translation (PLoS Path)
Common viral strategy for RNA degradation (J Virol)
KSHV SOX and Xrn1 together degrade host mRNAs (PLoS Path)
Dengue treatment with Fc null antibodies (PLoS Path)
Early clinical features of dengue in Nicaraguan children (PLoS Negl Trop Dis)
Intrahuman dengue virus diversity (J Virol)
Dynamics of dengue disease severity (Sci Transl Med)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 227: Lacks security and bad poultry

April 7, 2013

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

The complete TWiV team reviews the controversial publication of the HeLa cell genome, a missing vial of Guanarito virus in a BSL-4 facility, and human infections with avian influenza H7N9 virus.

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Download TWiV 227 (69 MB .mp3, 95 min)
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Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – NIAID YouTube videos
Alan – Lego insects
Rich – How to see the world in a grain of sand
Vincent – Vaccines, viruses, and the anti-vax movement
Dickson – Edinburgh Science Festival

Listener Pick of the Week

Stephen – Nature iOS app
Mehul – Voices for vaccines

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 226: Taking the viral A train with Terry Dermody

March 31, 2013

Despommier and Dermody Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Terry Dermody

Vincent and Dickson speak with Terry Dermody about his career in medicine and virology.

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Download TWiV 226 (67 MB .mp3, 93 min)
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Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 225: Transcripts from the inbox

March 24, 2013

virus inbox Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Rich, and Kathy read listener comments and questions on viral oncotherapy, science communication, a functional HIV cure in an infant, and much more.

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Download TWiV 225 (73 MB .mp3, 101 min)
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Links for this episode:

Plant viruses alter insect behavior (Sci Rep)
Circovirus in Shanghai
Letters read on TWiV 225

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – Case stories about CoV-EMC (one, two)
Rich – The Self-Illusion by Bruce Hood
Vincent – Moving Targets

Listener Pick of the Week

Liam – eLIFE and Rubriq
Steve – Plant virus ecology (mp3)
Neil – World Immunization Week

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 224: A wide receiver and a natural defense

March 17, 2013

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Alan, Kathy, and Dickson discuss identification of a cell receptor for the coronavirus-EMC, and the role of interferon-epsilon in protecting the female reproductive tract.

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Download TWiV 224 (69 MB .mp3, 95 min)
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Links for this episode:

Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 is CoV-EMC receptor (Nature)
Receptor for new coronavirus (Nature)
Broad reception for coronavirus (Nature)
SARS 10th anniversary (Science)
Interferon-epsilon protects female reproductive tract (Science)
Families fighting flu (YouTube)
Monitoring infections with online data (TWiM 41)
Natalie Portman was a scientist (NY Times)
Letters read on TWiV 224

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – 2013 Intel Science Talent Search awards
Alan – Krebs Cycle Rap (CDC)
Vincent – Jetpens (favorite one and two)
Dickson – Rabies death in organ recipients (CDC)

Listener Pick of the Week

Justin – The DNA Store
Jim – Massive Open Online Classrooms
Chris – Feedly

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 223: EEEV and the serpent

March 10, 2013

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Alan, and Kathy discuss new influenza virus NA inhibitors, detection of EEEV antibody and RNA in snakes, and replication of the coronavirus EMC in human airway epithelial cells.

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Download TWiV 223 (64 MB .mp3, 89 min)
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Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – Finkbeiner test and Women in Science
Alan – New flu vaccine efficacy study (CDC)
Vincent – Threading the NEIDL video

Listener Pick of the Week

Steve – Prof. Joan Steitz on viral RNA
Ed – Archiving history of molecular biology: Press release, video, CSHL archives and videos

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 222: Jumpin’ Jack Flash, it’s a GAS GAS GAS

March 3, 2013

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

The complete TWiV team discusses the amazing finding that cyclic GMP-AMP synthase is a cytosolic innate immune DNA sensor.

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Download TWiV 222 (70 MB .mp3, 97 min)
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Links for this episode:

Zhijian J. Chen (Wikipedia)
Sensing the dark side of DNA (Science)
cGAMP is an endogenous second messenger (Science)
cGAMP synthase is a DNA sensor (Science)
Pore-forming toxin (Wikipedia)
Letters read on TWiV 222

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – Graphene batteries
Alan – How do we get cures? (YouTube)
Rich – Explosive breach of Condit Dam (Vimeo)
Vincent – 10 things you can do to support open access (Tree of Life)