The TWiV team reveals that recent mumps virus outbreaks in the US are due to waning vaccine efficacy, and an intranasally delivered small interfering RNA that controls West Nile infection in the brain.
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler
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Download TWiV 488 (62 MB .mp3, 102 min)
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Links for this episode
- ASM Microbe 2018
- ASV 2018
- Microbiology Student Symposium at UC Berkeley
- Support Viruses & Cells Gordon Conference
- Waning mumps vaccine in US (Sci Trans Med)
- siRNA control of West Nile virus brain infection (Cell Host Microbe)
- Image credit
- Letters read on TWiV 488
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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.
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This was one of the best episodes I’ve listened to in a while. It was very easy to understand and it will be very interesting to see if it will actually work in humans. There’s a famous joke in biology that goes: “We have cured every disease out there, but in mice”. Also, I would like to recommend an article my professor has sent me. It mentions how a virus hijacks the host in order to increase actin polymerization in the “nucleus”. Fascinating stuff. Thanks a lot for all of your efforts. Greetings from Kean University.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17053146
Thanks Chad! You are not too far from me. We’ve been making a conscious effort lately explain things more clearly, avoiding the ‘weeds’. Vincent.