In this episode we explain how regions of the human genome associated with severe COVID-19 are identified, the finding that one of these regions was inherited from Neanderthals, and prolonged SARS-CoV-2 reproduction in an immunocompromised patient.

The Masters of the ScienTWIVic Universe discuss a novel poxvirus isolate from an immunosuppressed patient, H1N1 and the gain-of-function debate, and attenuation of dengue virus by recoding the genome.