From the NIH campus (recorded February 2020) Vincent and Rich meet with Eugene Koonin to discuss his theories on the evolutionary origins of viruses.
From the Fourth Symposium on Giant Virus Biology in Germany, Vincent, Rich, and Nels speak with Assaf, Stephen, and Alexandra about their careers and their work on giant viruses that infect ocean hosts: Emiliana huxleyi, Aureococcus anophagefferans, and a choanoflagellate.
The TWiV team discusses Medusavirus, isolated from a hot spring in Japan, and induction of hallmarks of neurodegeneration by recurrent herpes simplex virus 1 infection of mice.
Team TWiV cover the discovery of another giant virus from 30,000 year old Siberian permafrost, and how viral aggregation accelerates the production of new infectious viruses and increases fitness, demonstrating an Allee effect.