TWiV 734: Weiss hath no furin like a virus scorned

March 21, 2021

Susan Weiss returns to TWiV to discuss coronavirus entry into cells and the role of spike protein cleavage by proteases, why lab escaped hypotheses for SARS-CoV-2 are unlikely, and modulation of innate immune responses during infection.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Alan Dove, Brianne Barker, and Amy Rosenfeld

Guest: Susan Weiss

Click arrow to play
Download TWiV 734 (79 MB .mp3, 131 min)
Subscribe (free): iTunesGoogle PodcastsRSSemail

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Weekly Picks 1:55:18

BrianneTiktok of How mRNA Vaccines Work
AlanDark
RichUnmixing Color Machine (Ultra Laminar Reversible Flow) – Smarter Every Day 217
AmyMOMA Calder exhibit, reviewed in NYTimes
VincentRipple Training (free YouTube channel)

Listener Picks

Ruth100 million year old seafloor bacteria resuscitated
IradisLinda Zall, CIA spy for science

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

Leave a Reply to Janet Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

5 comments on “TWiV 734: Weiss hath no furin like a virus scorned

  1. Janet Mar 21, 2021

    Could anybody address whether the tPA leader sequence in the AstraZeneca ChAdOx vaccine could be immunogenic? This is in light of the hypothesis of the Norwegian and German specialists that antibodies ineracting with platelets found in all patient samples analysed are a potential cause of the severe clotting disorder, clinically similar to Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia, seen in the younger age groups beginning to be given this vaccine across Europe.
    The initial younger age group in the UK (mostly healthcare workers) were given the Pfizer BionTech vaccine which may explain the lack of signal here so far- and the vaccination of the under 50s is coincidentally delayed now due to supply issues.
    Is anyone aware of such events following the Gamaleya vaccine?
    In some ways it would have been good if there had been a batch issue found to correlate but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
    Many people not perceived to be in the Covid19 high-risk group are now potentially faced with making a difficult risk/benefit decision but if it is found to be an effect unique to this particular vaccine then there would be room for a rational protocol of allocation to reduce the (hopefully very small) risk, e.g identifying any group particularly vulnerable to this adverse effect- seems to be women 60 and under-and using a different vaccine for them. There is a need to prevent people’s natural anxiety getting in the way of the vaccination campaign. France has limited the AZ vaccine to the over 65 age group now and other countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark) are still investigating before deciding whether to resume using it.

  2. Thank you all very much for sharing! What about using food as medicine? By developing a diet and exercise plan based on each individual’s health condition, it is a sustainable, proactive, and preventative approach to increase his or her immune system.

    Thanks again!

  3. Juan R Correa Mar 22, 2021

    Dear TWIV team,

    Please, allow me to shed some light on some issue about Colombian vaccination that came up on epidsode 734 by a distressed fellow colombian citizen living in the Netherlands concerned about his/her grandma. I want to start by stating that certainly Colombia is not an exemption for corruption and a country with many critical ethical issues at various levels. Several scientists/physicians/health workers, myself included are very harsh critics of most of the public policies in health and other areas in this country. However it is fair to say that our society has been guided by a government that has asked for and heard the advice of health experts and has made efforts to unite the whole population around the idea of providing COVID-19 vaccination as a inalienable right for all citizens and legal or ilegal residents. In that sense the presidency and the ministry of health have issued, passed and implemented an emergency law for Covid-19 vaccination. As today, a national vaccination plan for Covid has delivered 1.182.000 doses of which 54.500 are second doses in a campaign that started in February 17. Vaccination phase 1 encompasses 100% of health workers and allied personnel and all citizens age +80. All those people make 1.7 million of a roughly 50 million nation. So, for a 4 week period of time this is surely slow but this is the best we can afford in concordance to our resources: we do not have unlimited and prompt access to vaccines that are obtained at much higher comparable costs that those for other countries in terms of Health budget related to per capita GDP. Our vaccination resources that were considered as an example for the latinamerican region have been put to the toughest test and despite all previsible efforts we will not reach a vaccination pace comparable to first world countries. Of course, errors have been made in the process and corruption cases have been detected. Those unfortunate cases are not the majority, those do not make the real problem with regards to Covid vaccination in this nation. I regret their ocurrence as much as I regret the ill press this country has gotten, some times well desrved and many more times injustly. The vast majority of colombian people are lawful, caring citizens as is the case of most nations in the world. As a physician working in a tertiary care facility I can say that those errors were scrutinized and actions had been taken. I am concerned about the aged lady from episode 734. She should have been vaccinated by now or at least, she should have been scheduled for her first dose in the following days. Either Pfizer-BioNTech or Sinovac vaccines are available for phase 1 vaccination, both contemplate a second dose. Please feel free to use my contact info to provide it your listener in the Netherlands as someone who will guide and assist his/her granny in the process of getting her vaccine. I again thank you Dr. Racaniello and your crew for all the good work you do for so many people in distant and not so famous places like Colombia. Basic scientists educating people is remarkable. You guys have helped me to polish my rusty and outdated cardiac surgeon virology concepts since last year when our service shut down for a few months due lo lack of ICU beds; fortunately I found you guys. That has prepared me to volunteer along with many other health workers at academic hospitals in educating and training an army of vaccinators to speed up this process. With best Regards, Juan R Correa,, MD. Cardiac Surgery Unit, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia

  4. Dan Ellis Mar 23, 2021

    The link to the letters is wrong… it says 735, and points to 731!

  5. I had the astrazeneca vaccine, mild malaise following it, but grateful to get it. My daughter and her partner who are both in vulnerable categories think that they caught the virus at the vaccination centre, Like many of their age group they are not great at effective masking and hand washing though!