Vincent speaks with Raul and Kostya about the development of novel oral polio vaccine from the Sabin type 2 strain, its deployment in over 600 million children, and whether it can lead to eradication of poliomyelitis.
TWiV explains how remdesivir inhibits the SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase: the drug is incorporated into the growing RNA chain and causes synthesis to stall when the drug clashes with an amino acid in the active site.
The TWiV hosts discuss the distribution of prions in the eyes of patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and the origins and evolution of RNA viruses.
At Tufts University Dental School in Boston, Vincent speaks with Katya Heldwein and Sean Whelan about their careers and their work on herpesvirus structure and replication of vesicular stomatitis virus.
Ben tenOever joins the TWiVoli to discuss the evolution of RNA interference and his lab’s finding that RNAse III nucleases, needed for the maturation of cellular RNAs, are an ancient antiviral RNA recognition platform in all domains of life.
The TWiVers explain how a protein platform assists the hepatitis C virus RNA polymerase to begin the task of making viral genomes.