This Week in Virology

TWiV 273: Lambda is not just a phage

February 23, 2014

IFN lambda Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

The TWiVome dissect the finding that interferon lambda alleles predict the outcome of hepatitis C virus infection.

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Weekly Science Picks

Rich – Think like a scientist (one, two); Science controversies
Dickson – Visualization challenge 2013
Vincent – Orphan Black
Kathy – Alberta worm invasion project

Listener Pick of the Week

Timothy – How do vaccines cause autism?
Anne – Luke Jerram’s glass viruses
Jim – NLM Communications Engineering Branch
Steve – Synapse by synapse
Jacob – Tiny technology creates a buzz

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

TWiV 272: Give peas a chance

February 16, 2014

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

The TWiV team describes aphid control by using a viral capsid protein to deliver a spider toxin to plants, and a human endogenous retrovirus that enhances expression of a neuronal gene.

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Links for this episode

Toxin delivery to plants by viral capsid protein (Nat Biotech)
Pea enation mosaic virus (ViralZone)
Image credit: Aphid membrane feeding chamber (Sci Rep)
Aphid feeding chamber (YouTube)
Parafilm (Wikipedia)
Human endogenous retrovirus enhances neural gene (PNAS)
Flu, common cold, alternative medicine (NCCAM)
Cold vs flu (CDC)
Phage hunters
Bed bugs and infectious disease (PLoS Path)
Letters read on TWiV 272

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Statistical error (Nature)
Rich – 12 oldest animal species
Dickson – When liquids collide
Vincent – HIV denial and just asking questions
Kathy – Sun’s canyon of fire

Listener Pick of the Week

Sandra – Women physicists keep female students psyched
Judi – HHMI’s Biointeractive
Jacob – Influenza virus HA

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

TWiV 271: To bee, or not to bee, that is the infection

February 9, 2014

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

The TWiV crew discusses two reports on viruses that might have crossed kingdoms, from plants to honeybees and from plants to vertebrates.

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Links for this episode

Tobacco ringspot virus in honeybees (mBio)
Plant virus that switched to vertebrates (PNAS)
CDC influenza activity and surveillance
With Esmeralda at ASM Biodefense (jpg)
Are viruses alive? (poll at virology blog)
Image credit: Virginia Tech Learning Resources Center
Letters read on TWiV 271

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Nagasaki bombing (YouTube)
Rich – GoPro Red Bull Stratos (YouTube)
Dickson – Solar orbs
Vincent – Socrative

Listener Pick of the Week

Basel – Pathology course online
Russell – Sochi 2014: Encyclopedia of spending
Yegor – Visual Science

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

TWiV 270: Homeland virology

February 2, 2014

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Rich Condit

Guests: Dennis Hruby and Yoshihiro Kawaoka

Vincent and Rich discuss avian influenza virus and an antiviral drug against smallpox with Dennis and Yoshi at the ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting in Washington, DC.

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Weekly Science Picks

Vincent – Quanta Magazine
Rich – Colour is in the eye of the beholder

Listener Pick of the Week

Kehau – Beautiful but deadly viruses
Lance – The signal and the noise by David Silver

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

TWiV 269: Herpesvirus stops a nuclear attack

January 26, 2014

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

The complete TWiV team reviews evidence for sensing of herpesviral DNA in the nucleus by the cell protein IFI16.

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Download TWiV 269 (74 MB .mp3, 102 min)
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Links for this episode

IFI16 is a nuclear pathogen sensor (Cell Host Micr)
Nuclear IFI16 sensing of and antagonism by herpesvirus (PNAS)
Acetylation regulates IFI16 location (PNAS)
Letters read on TWiV 269

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – Female conveners and speakers
Alan – Sandgrains
Rich – 2013 Lamborghini Aventador
Vincent – Happy Birthday Mac and 128K Mac teardown
Dickson – Farmdominion

Listener Pick of the Week

Peter – The Microscope and The Next Global Killer
Richard – Glass viruses

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

TWiV 268: Transmission is inevitable

January 19, 2014

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Kathy Spindler, and Ashlee Bennett

Vincent, Alan, Kathy, and Ashlee discuss fomites in physicians offices, plant virus factories involved in aphid transmission, and clues from the bat genome about flight and immunity.

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Download TWiV 268 (77 MB .mp3, 106 min)
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Links for this episode

How viruses cause disease (Coursera)
How clean is your iPad (Which?)
Meeting announcement: From emerging to pandemic viruses
CaMV virus factories involved in aphid transmission (J Virol)
Caulimovirus (ViralZone)
CaMV responds instantly to vector (eLIFE)
Aphid acquiring CaMV (J Virol)
Bat genomes, flight, and immunity (Science)
Letters read on TWiV 268

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – Jean-Luc Doumont (slides, communicating science, website, Scitable )
Alan – Wireless thermometer
Vincent – Rethinking the airline boarding pass

Listener Pick of the Week

Jessica – Knit icosahedron
Robert – Practical computing for biologists by Haddock and Dunn
Stephen – Fourteen years of US weather (YouTube)

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

TWiV 267: Snow in the headlights

January 12, 2014

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

Vincent, Alan, Rich and Kathy review a protease essential for influenza pathogenesis in mice, and directionality of rhinovirus RNA exit from the capsid.

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Download TWiV 267 (69 MB .mp3, 95 min)
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Links for this episode

Protease essential for influenza pathogenesis in mice (PLoS Path)
Rhinovirus uncoating is directional (PLoS Path)
Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy
Capillary electrophoresis (Wiki)
Letters read on TWiV 267

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – Amazing maps
Alan – Florida to NJ in 156 seconds (YouTube)
Rich – Whiteout over Great Lakes from Space
Vincent – LORiOLA viral necklaces

Listener Pick of the Week

Carol – Knit picornavirus
Robert – RNA: Life’s Indispensible Molecule by James Darnell,
and Biochemical Pathways by Michal and Schomburg

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

TWiV 266: A pathogenic vicious cycle

January 5, 2014

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Alan, and Kathy discuss finding viruses in outer space, varying results obtained from personal genetic testing, and depletion of CD4 cells during HIV infection by pyroptosis.

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Download TWiV 266 (70 MB .mp3, 97 min)
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Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – 17 mundane things, mind blowing views
Alan – Snowovel
Vincent – Public’s views on human evolution

Listener Pick of the Week

Emily – Dengue pillow

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

dengue knit

TWiV 265: This year in virology

December 29, 2013

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

In their final episode of the year, the TWiV team reviews ten compelling virology stories from 2013.

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Download TWiV 265 (75 MB .mp3, 103 min)
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Weekly Science Picks

Kathy – Women in Science
Alan – Contagium
Rich – RC helicopter (demo)
Vincent – The athletic power of quadcopters

Listener Pick of the Week

Lindsay – Alcohol consumption and vaccines (Vaccine)
Johnye – The Singing Microbiologist

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

scientist LEGO

TWiV 264: We should do an all-email show some day

December 22, 2013

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

The TWiVites read listener questions and comments about public engagement in science, vaccines, RNAi, reprogramming CD8 cells to treat cancer, rabies, and much more.