This Week in Virology

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TWiV 349: One ring to vaccinate them all Aug 09, 2015

Show notes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Vincent, Alan and Rich explain how to make a functional ribosome with tethered subunits, and review the results of a phase III VSV-vectored Ebolavirus vaccine trial in Guinea.

Links for this episode

Social media specialist position at ASM
WHO dismisses Catholic church on vaccine safety
U of T Dean resigns over anti-vaccine course (Tor Star)
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
Countering anti-vaccination attitudes (PNAS)
Designer ribosome (Nature)
rVSV-EBOV preliminary report (NEJM)
rVSV-EBOV phase III interim report (pdf, Lancet)
World on verge of Ebolavirus vaccine (WHO)
Ebolavirus vaccine in Africa (virology blog)
Letters read on TWiV 349 11:55

This episode is sponsored by ASM GAP

Weekly Science Picks

Alan - Above and BeyondRich - DSCOVR (Dark moon side crossing Earth)Vincent - Stuxnet virus (Wired, YouTube)

Listener Pick of the Week

Konrad - Stated Clearly

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv

TWiV 348: Chicken shift Aug 02, 2015

Show notes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Rich Condit

Vincent and Rich discuss fruit fly viruses, one year without polio in Nigeria, and a permissive Marek's disease viral vaccine that allows transmission of virulent viruses.

Links for this episode

Virology tenure-track position at NCI (pdf)
ASM Agar Art Contest
Nigeria on brink of polio eradication (Nature)
Dengue in Africa (Tyler Sharp)
Permissive vaccines and virulence (PLoS Biol)
Marek's disease vaccines and virulence (Ed Yong)
Image credit
Letters read on TWiV 348

This episode is sponsored by ASM GAP

Weekly Science Picks

Rich - Swan-Ganz catheter (Wiki, video)Vincent - Mobile DNA III

Listener Pick of the Week

Kevin - Synthetic prions

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv

TWiV 347: Rose rosette and squirrel roulette Jul 26, 2015

Show notes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Vincent, Alan, and Rich discuss the virus behind rose rosette disease, and fatal human encephalitis caused by a variegated squirrel bornavirus.

Links for this episode

Virology tenure-track position at NIH (pdf) 7:00
Voinnet investigation is a Swiss Federal secret (twitter) 12:25
Rose rosette disease in Ft. Worth (Star Telegram) 29:35
Rose rosette virus discovered (J Gen Virol) 34:25
Emeravirus (ViralZone) 33:55
Eriophyid mites (MI Botanical Garden) 32:40
Mite vector of rose rosette disease (U Florida) 34:55
Image credit
Squirrel bornavirus associated with human encephalitis (NEJM) 38:40
Poll: How do you consume podcasts? 1:21:40
Letters read on TWiV 347 8:10, 59:40

This episode is sponsored by ASM GAP and ICAAC/ICC

Time stamps by Jennifer. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks 1:17:05

Alan - National Immunization Awareness Month (Twitter campaign)Rich - Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty Vincent - iPhone owns podcasts (9to5Mac)

Listener Pick of the Week

Sandra - World Zoonoses Day graphicPeter - Mammal-carnivorous plant mutualism (bat and shrew)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv

TWiV 346: A double helical career Jul 19, 2015

Show notes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

Guest: Joan Steitz

This episode was recorded at the 34th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Virology, where Vincent, Rich, and Kathy spoke with Joan Steitz, a tireless promoter of women in science and one of the greatest scientists of our generation.

Links for this episode

ASV annual meeting, Western University
Steitz Laboratory at Yale University
Steitz Laboratory on Twitter
Panoramic photo of ASV TWiV by Matt Evans
Photos of ASV2015 (Facebook)
Video of this episode - view at YouTube

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy - Charity HallRich - Ribosome binding sites of phage R17 mRNA Vincent - Pluto flyby

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv

TWiV 345: How a vaccine got the nod Jul 12, 2015

Show notes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

The TWiVonauts review how the weather affects West Nile virus disease in the US, benefit of B cell depletion for ME/CFS patients, and an autoimmune reaction induced by influenza virus vaccine that leads to narcolepsy.

Links for this episode

Virology faculty position, University of Toledo
Weather and West Nile virus disease (AJTMH)
B cell depletion benefits ME/CFS patients (PLoS One)
Antibodies to influenza nucleoprotein cause narcolepsy (Science Transl Med)
Letters read on TWiV 345

This episode is sponsored by ASM GAP - turn your science into a company

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson - Algal DMS releasing enzymeAlan - Science of beer agingKathy - The Art of Science winners Vincent - The future of Lego plastics

Listener Pick of the Week

Eric - Economics in One Lesson by Henry HazzilitStephen - The Martian by Andy Weir (audiobook)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv

TWiV 344: Glasgwegians go viral Jul 05, 2015

Show notes

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Ruth Jarrett, Glen Nemerow, and Esther Schnettler

At the Glasgow Science Festival microTALKS, Vincent speaks with Ruth, Glen, and Esther about their research on viruses and Hodgkin lymphoma, adenovirus structure and entry into cells, and interactions between arthropod borne viruses and their hosts.

Links for this episode

Glasgow Science Festival microTALKS
Hodgkin lymphoma (Histopath)
HHV-6 and Hodgkin lymphoma (PLoS One)
Adenovirus entry (PLoS Path)
Adenovirus membrane penetration (Virology)
Mosquito pathways that limit CHIK replication (PLoS Negl Trop Dis)
Tick antiviral RNAi (Nucl Acids Res)
Video of this episode - view at YouTube

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv

TWiV 343: The silence of the turnips Jun 28, 2015

Show notes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

The TWiVerinoes discuss the potential for prion spread by plants, global circulation patterns of influenza virus, and the roles of Argonautes and a viral protein in RNA silencing in plants.

Links for this episode

Prions in plants (Cell Rep) 11:35
Global influenza virus circulation (Nature) 20:40
Rough patch for plant RNA silencing (Lab Times) 29:50
Role of Argonaute proteins in plant viral defense (PLoS Path) 32:15
Rub-inoculation (YouTube) 42:45
Image credit
Letters read on TWiV 343 4:00, 1:11:45

Timestamps by Jennifer. Thank you!

Weekly Science Picks 1:41:45

Dickson - Global rainfall and snowfall map and A Week in the Life of RainAlan - Automated patch clampKathy - More Women in Science mini Legos Rich - The Martian trailer Vincent - It's a bug's life

Listener Pick of the Week

May - p53 by Sue Armstrong

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv

TWiV 342: Public epitope #1 Jun 21, 2015

Show notes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

The TWiVniks discuss the structure of a virus that reproduces in an extreme environment, long-term consequences of Ebolavirus infection, and VirScan, a method to identify the different virus infections you have had in your lifetime.

Links for this episode

Virus with A-form DNA (Science)
Viruses in the extreme (virology blog)
Sequelae of Ebolavirus infection (Lancet Inf Dis)
Long term Ebolavirus effects (virology blog)
Take the chili ME challenge
Serological profiling of human viral infections (Science)
Your viral past (virology blog)
Letters read on TWiV 342

Timestamps by Jennifer. Thank you!

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson - Incredible photosAlan - Alone in a room full of science writersKathy - Calico cats and Siamese cats Rich - Missing link in evolution Vincent - Podcasts saving NPR and Podcasting blossoms

Listener Pick of the Week

Jenny - What Bill Gates is afraid ofNeva - The Kardashian Index

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv

TWiV 341: Ebolavirus experiences Jun 14, 2015

Show notes

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Adam Kucharski, Gillian Slack, and Emma Thomson

Vincent returns to the University of Glasgow MRC-Center for Virus Research and speaks with Emma, Gillian, and Adam about their ebolavirus experiences: caring for an infected patient, working in an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone, and making epidemiological predictions about the outbreak in west Africa.

Links for this episode