This Week in Virology

TWiV 322: Postcards from the edge of the membrane

February 1, 2015

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

The TWiVodes answer listener email about hantaviruses, antivirals, H1N1 vaccine and narcolepsy, credibility of peer review, Bourbon virus, influenza vaccine, careers in virology, and much more.

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Links for this episode

Bourbon virus (NY Times)
Thogotovirus (ViralZone)
Drug induced apoptosis and HIV infection (PLoS One)
Mumps cases and outbreaks (CDC)
Opossums as pets? (doc)
Cat found
Letters read on TWiV 322

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Boom by Tony Horowitz
Kathy – Octopus supermom
Dickson – Macrophotography
Vincent – Virology lectures 2015 (virology blog and YouTube)

Listener Pick of the Week

Paul – Illsville: Fight the Disease
Ramon – Vaccinate! Do it for the testicles
Sandra – Who can you trust?

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 321: aTRIP and a pause

January 25, 2015

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

Guest: Paul Duprex

Paul joins the TWiV team to discuss the current moratorium on viral research to alter transmission, range and resistance, infectivity and immunity, and pathogenesis.

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Links for this episode

Wain-Hobson objects (one, two, three, four)
Influenza H7N1 transmission experiments (J Virol)
Epistemological perspective on aTRIP experiments (mBio)
Limited scientific value and risk (mBio)
Reply to limited scientific value (mBio)
Risks and benefits of aTRIP experiments (mBio)
Apocalypse as rhetorical device in aTRIP debate (mBio)
Moratorium on aTRIP experiments
Moratorium on aTRIP research (mBio)
Risks of influenza virus transmission experiments (mBio)
Reply to risks of influenza virus transmission experiments (mBio)
Vagueness of moratorium on aTRIP experiments (mBio)
Role of aTRIP experiments in vaccine recommendation (mBio)
Use of aTRIP data for surveillance and preparedness (mBio)
aTRIP towards lexiconic precision (mBio)
October 2014 NSABB meeting on aTRIP
NAS aTRIP meeting (YouTube)
MERS-CoV aTRIP experiments exempted (ScienceInsider)
aTRIP: time for a debate (Nat Rev Micro)
Effect of aTRIP moratorium on trainee plans (mBio)
Make the moratorium permanent (Sci Am)
Image credit: John Morris
Letters read on TWiV 321

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Paul – Saving the lives of our dogs (blog post)
Kathy – New all-female Lego set
Dickson – Female storm-chaser
Vincent – Despommier Photo Art

Listener Pick of the Week

Jacob – Exaggeration in news and press releases (BMJ)
Peter – Quartet game (photos: one, two, three, four, five)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 320: Retroviruses and cranberries

January 18, 2015

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guest: John Coffin

Vincent speaks with John Coffin about his career studying retroviruses, including working with Howard Temin, endogenous retroviruses, XMRV, chronic fatigue syndrome and prostate cancer, HIV/AIDS, and his interest in growing cranberries.

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Links for this episode

John Coffin (Wikipedia)
Specific HIV integration sites (Science)
Novel retrovirus in modern birds (J Virol)
Recombinant origin of XMRV (Science)
Cranberry harvest (jpg)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 319: Breaking breakbone

January 11, 2015

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

The TWiVers review the outcomes of two recent phase 3 clinical trials of a quadrivalent dengue virus vaccine in Asia and Latin America.

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Links for this episode

Efficacy of dengue vaccine (NEJM)
Preventing dengue (NEJM)
Dengue viruses (Scitable)
Intention to treat (Wikipedia)
Image credit: Jean-Yves Sgro
Letters read on TWiV 319

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – The Toaster Project by Thomas Thwaites
Rich – SpaceX reusable rocket (SpaceX)
Kathy – Antarctica: A Year on Ice
Dickson – NHL Mumps outbreak and Hubble Andromeda image
Vincent – We the Microbiologist

Listener Pick of the Week

Neva – Mosquito earrings
Basel – Flu vaccine selection meeting

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 318: Last year in virology

January 4, 2015

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

The TWiV gang reviews ten fascinating, compelling, and riveting virology stories from 2014.

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Ten virology stories of 2014

Ebola virus outbreak (TWiV 314, 309, 308, 307, 306, 305, 304, 303, 302, 298, 297, 283)
Directional uncoating of rhinovirus RNA (TWiV 267)
Pandemic pathogen controversy (TWiV 287)
Viral evolution (TWiV 275)
Borna virus inhibition by endogenous DNA (TWiV 303)
MERS-CoV in dromedary camels (TWiV special, TWiV 287)
Oncolytic measles virus (TWiV 298)
Amazing norovirus findings (TWiV 312 and 313)
Toxin delivery to aphids (TWiV 272)
The Salk Legacy (TWiV 281)

Links for this episode

Bat-filled tree (Science)
Possible Ebola virus lab exposure (CIDRAP)
Mishandling of Ebola virus sample (NY Times)
Where could Ebola virus strike next? (NPR)
New Legos of female scientists
Photo and cookie by Kathy Spindler
Letters read on TWiV 318

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Mystery photos from CERN
Rich – Adam E. Cohen: Bringing bioelectricity to light
Kathy – Wired’s top microbe stories of 2014
Dickson – Mouse joke
Vincent – The Science of Epidemics (Time Inc Special)

Listener Pick of the Week

Neva – Sir Bacteriophage
Sagi – An unboring polio documentary

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 317: Brazil goes viral

December 28, 2014

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Eurico Arruda, Gustavo Acrani, Cintia Bittar, Tatiana Domitrovic, and Suellen Galvino-Costa

On his second trip to Brazil, Vincent joins Eurico to speak with four young virologists, Gustavo, Cintia, Tatiana, and Suellen, about their work and their prospects for careers in science.

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Download TWiV 317 (61 MB .mp3, 85 min)
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Photos of my trip are at facebook.com/thisweekinvirology

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 316: The enemy of my enemy is not my friend

December 21, 2014

Th17 cells Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Alan, Rich and Kathy discuss how interleukin 10 modulation of Th17 helper cells contributes to alphavirus pathogenesis.

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Download TWiV 316 (66 MB .mp3, 91 min)
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Links for this episode

IL10 modulation of Th17 cells during alphavirus pathogenesis (PNAS)
Th17 cells involved in influenza mediated gut injury (J Exp Med)
Helper T cells
2014-15 flu season (CDC)
Key facts about flu & flu vaccine (CDC)
Does the flu vaccine work? (Turbid plaque)
Effectiveness of flu vaccine (virology blog)
Image credit
Letters read on TWiV 316

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – It came from the pond
Rich – Wanderers
Kathy – The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker
Vincent – Life in Our Phage World

Listener Pick of the Week

Fernando – Reality based?

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 315: Must be something in the water

December 14, 2014

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

Vincent, Alan, Rich and Kathy discuss the association of a virus with sea star melting disease, and the finding of a phycodnavirus in the oropharynx of humans with altered cognitive functions.

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Download TWiV 315 (63 MB .mp3, 87 min)
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Weekly Science Picks

Alan – ReelLife Science 2014 Winners
Rich – The Martian by Andy Weir
Kathy – Dance Your Ph.D. Winner
Vincent – Time Person of the Year 2014 – The Ebola Fighters

Listener Pick of the Week

Ricardo – MiniPCR
Eli – Let’s outsmart Ebola together AND The Ebola virus explained

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]

TWiV 314: Einstein goes viral

December 7, 2014

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Kartik Chandran, Ganjam Kalpana, and Margaret Kielian

Vincent travels to Albert Einstein College of Medicine where he speaks with Kartik, Ganjam, and Margaret about their work on Ebolavirus entry, a tumor suppressor that binds the HIV-1 integrase, and the entry of togaviruses and flaviviruses into cells.