Cedric and John join TWiV to discuss their research showing that a human protein derived from an ancient retrovirus infection can protect against infection by other retroviruses.
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler
Guest: Cedric Feschotte and John Anthony Frank
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Download TWiV 954 (63 MB .mp3, 104 min)
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Links for this episode
- Support MicrobeTV with a Spike t-shirt (Vaccinated.us) with promo code MicrobeTV 6:41
- Cedric on TWiV 935 1:24
- Antiviral retroviral protein (Science) 8:24
- Stealing genes, facing consequences (Science) 47:37
- Letters read on TWiV 956 1:04:42
- Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!
Weekly Picks 1:27:05
Kathy – Wastewater Dashboard
Rich – Artemis I Mission; Artemis I launch; Artemis I Map
Vincent – Pasta Grammar
Listener Picks
Rich – Watch a virus in the moments before it attacks
Justin – Respiratory syncytial virus
Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees
Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
Sorry this is not a reply to last week’s episode. Rather, just wanted you to be aware of the Lancet’s report on the CDC pandemic “findings” and CDC “changes” Lancet 2022 US CDC begins agency-wide changes after pandemic failures
Panel: Key findings and recommendations from the CDC review
It takes too long for the CDC to publish its data and science for
decision making
• Create an online mechanism for pre-publication delivery of
science
• Expedite the review or approval process for scientific
publications and data (including laboratory data) to match the
needs of the emergency
The agency’s turnover of staff during the COVID-19 response
created gaps and other challenges for partners
• Increase the number of CDC leaders trained and ready to deploy
to a response
• Require a minimum of 6-month rotation for leadership positions
on the response; build a redundancy model of emergency
staffing (ie, backup or co-lead staff in all key positions) to prevent
response burnout and assure continuity in operations
The agency’s guidance documents are confusing and
overwhelming, and the website is not easy to navigate
• Produce plain-language, easy-to-understand implementation
guidance documents that apply over multiple settings; reduce
the number and length of guidance documents; include a brief
scientific rationale or background in the implementation
guidance with a referenced or accompanying Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report, Science Brief, as necessary
• Restructure the agency web site and digital communication
platforms to eliminate unnecessary content and focus on key
target audiences with a primary emphasis on the public
COVID-19 uncovered the need for flexibilities that do not exist
today at the CDC
• Establish new authorities that will allow the CDC to be more
nimble and work faster, such as public health and regulatory
authorities mandating data collection from local jurisdictions,
and human resource authorities with authority to hire faster,
and ensure competitive salaries to recruit and retain for hardto-
fill positions like data scientists
In response to Lisa from Austin’s letter, this Stanford website might be helpful: https://covdb.stanford.edu/susceptibility-data/table-mab-susc/ A LOW SCORE IS BETTER! You’ll have to look for what all the abbreviations mean; the information is there though, I share Lisa’s view that a cocktail of two highly effective monoclonal antibodies,(which may need to be from different companies) is likely to be more escape-proof.