TWiV reviews evidence that COVID-19 mRNA vaccination of both uninfected and previously infected persons elicits cross-variant neutralizing antibodies, and directed evolution of a bacterial protein to form a virus-like capsid that specifically packages its encoding mRNA.
Vincent travels to Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA to speak with Nick and Leslie about their careers and their work on human cytomegalovirus and retroviruses.
The TWiVeroos deliver the weekly Zika Report, then talk about a cryoEM structure of a plant virus that reveals how the RNA genome is packaged in the capsid, and MIMIVIRE, a CRISPR-like defense system in giant eukaryotic viruses.
Vincent and Rich visit the Microbiology and Immunology Department at the University of Michigan Medical School, and speak with Alice and Kathy about their work on HIV genome dimerization, and packaging and pathogenesis of mouse adenovirus.