This Week in Virology

Latest Episodes:

TWiV #82 - Immunology in silico May 16, 2010

Show notes

On episode #82 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Rich talk about how thymic selection of T cells might lead to better control of HIV-1 infection, and a mouse model for severe antibody-induced dengue virus disease.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Rich Condit

Links for this episode:

Effect of thymic selection of T-cells on control of AIDS
Mouse model of antibody-induced severe dengue virus disease
Natural antibody protects against viral infection
Kary Mullis idea for fighting infections (thanks, Erik!)
40 nm resolution of fluorescence photoactivation localization microscopy (thanks, José)
Letters read on TWiV 82

Weekly science picks:

Rich The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle by Eric Lax Vincent Proteopedia (thanks, Erik!)

TWiV #81 - Be a virus, see the world May 09, 2010

Show notes

On episode #81 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Rich answer listener questions on viruses and gluten allergy, RNA silencing, influenza virus, herpes simplex virus, HIV/AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, manicure salons, and the koala tea of Marseilles.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Rich Condit

Links for this episode:

Virus infections and gluten intolerance on TWiS (thanks Jesper!)
Viral small RNAs in PLoS Pathogens (thanks Jason!)
Canadian Summit Awards (thanks Jim!)
Experimenting with phage at home (thanks Richard!)
CRISPR discovered by a dairy company (thanks Joel!)
Expedition to New Guinea to sample bird viruses - movie and blog entry (thanks Henrik!)
Preventing herpes with arginine and lysine - pdf (thanks Anthony!)
Chronic fatigue donors face rejection (thanks James!)
The Koala tea of Marseilles is not strained (thanks Stephen!)
The other Larson virus cartoon (jpg)
Letters read on TWiV 81

Weekly science picks:

Rich Google Chrome browser 'speed test' (and how it was made) Vincent Inside the Outbreaks by Mark Pendergrast

TWiV #80 - How much X could a woodchuck chuck? May 03, 2010

Show notes

On episode #80 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich speak with Michael Bouchard about hepatitis B virus discovery, replication, and pathogenesis.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Michael Bouchard

Links for this episode:

The enigmatic X gene of hepatitis B virus
Tableau public (thanks Ricardo!)
Molecular phylogeny of Archaea from soil (thanks Etienne!)
Habitats of Archaea (thanks Cedric!)
Timer remote controls (thanks Bill!)
Letters read in episode 80

Weekly science picks:

Rich PBS Frontline: The Vaccine War Alan Readability Vincent Starswarm by Jerry Pournelle

TWiV #79 - Red hot chili viruses Apr 25, 2010

Show notes

On episode #79 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Alan converse about making published science accessible to everyone, global eradication of poliomyelitis, and whether a plant virus can cause disease in humans.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Alan Dove

Links for this episode:

Making published science accessible to everyone (Nature News)
Federal Research Public Access Act
Is disease eradication a waste of money?
Do we have an ethical obligation to eradicate polio?
Signs of progress in polio eradication (NY Times)
Polio eradication: Harder than it looks (Fortner)
Gates rethinks his war on polio (WSJ)
Asymptomatic wild-type poliovirus infection in immune children (J Inf Dis)
Can a plant virus cause disease in humans? (PLoS One)
Replication of tomato spotted wilt virus in HeLa cells (PNAS)
Glycine detected in comet (thanks Vincent!)
Letters read on TWiV 79

Weekly science picks:

Alan Data.govVincent foldit

TWiV #78 - Darwin gets weird Apr 18, 2010

Show notes

On episode #78 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, Dickson, and Rich talk about treating arthritis with a tanapox virus protein, Darwinian evolution of prions in cell culture, and the connection between cold weather fronts and outbreaks of avian H5N1 influenza in Europe.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Dickson Despommier, and Rich Condit

Links for this episode:

Treating arthritis with a tanapox virus protein that antagonizes TNF (press release and research article)
Darwinian evolution of prions in cell culture (abstract)
Simple diagram of prion propagation (Wikipedia)
Thoughts on the pursuit of success in science by Charles Weissmann
Cold fronts linked to European H5N1 outbreaks (PLoS Pathogens)
Simon Singh's website and letter of support (thanks, Mary!)
The importance of stupidity in scientific research (thanks, Mary!)
Sustainable energy - without the hot air (thanks, Bernhard!)
World Community Grid (thanks Dave!)
Pre-order The Vertical Farm by Dickson Despommier
Letters read on TWiV 78

Weekly science picks:

Dickson Medical News Today: Infectious Diseases and Eaarth by Bill McKibben Rich U can with Beakman and Jax by Jok Church Alan UnderwaterTimes Vincent The Reef Tank

TWiV #77 - Non-nuclear proliferation Apr 11, 2010

Show notes

On episode #77 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich revisit circovirus contamination of Rotarix, then discuss poxvirus-like replication of mimivirus in the cell cytoplasm, and whether seasonal influenza immunization increases the risk of infection with the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Links for this episode:

Contamination of Rotarix vaccine with porcine circovirus 1 DNA
Do you want to know what is in your vaccines? Take the poll
Mimivirus replicates in the cell cytoplasm like poxviruses
mRNA capping and virus evolution
Association between the 2008-09 seasonal influenza vaccine and pandemic H1N1 illness (commentary)
Doane paper goes viral
Energetics of genome ejection from bacteriophage (thanks Gary!)
Five strategies for behavioral adaptation to pathogens and parasites (excerpt; thanks Wladimir!)
Letters read on TWiV 77

Weekly science picks:

Rich The Way We Work by David Macaulay Alan DimDim Vincent Polio: An American Story by David Oshinsky

TWiV #76 - XMRV with Professor Stephen Goff Apr 04, 2010

Show notes

On episode #76 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent speaks with Stephen Goff about the origin of the retrovirus XMRV and its association with prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Stephen Goff

Links for this episode:

Discovery of XMRV in prostate tumors
Association of XMRV with chronic fatigue syndrome
Enhanced infection of prostate cells by XMRV
XMRV and xenotransplantation

TWiV #75 - Rabies rampant Mar 28, 2010

Show notes

On episode #75 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Matt review contamination of Rotarix with circovirus DNA, antigenic similarity between 1918 and 2009 H1N1 influenza, a collection of rabies reports, and chicken pox mistaken for smallpox in Uganda.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Matthew Frieman

Links for this episode:

Contamination of Rotarix vaccine with porcine circovirus 1 DNA
Beak and feather disease circovirus (BFDV) threatens parrots
Antigenic similarity between 1918 and 2009 H1N1 influenza
Presumptive abortive human rabies in Texas
Rabies rampant: feline, immunization change, Indonesia, wolf, Texas bat, US equine (thanks, Lenn!)
Austin free tailed bats emerging at dusk
Suspected smallpox in Uganda
T-cell receptor therapy for AIDS (thanks Dorian!)

Weekly science picks:

Matt Bitesize BioAlan Free printable graph paper (see also doane paper)Vincent Avian Flu Diary

TWiV #74 - Influenza with Professor Adolfo Garcia-Sastre Mar 22, 2010

Show notes

On episode #74 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent speaks with Adolfo Garcia-Sastre about the origin, pathogenesis, and prevention of the 2009 pandemic influenza H1N1 virus.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Adolfo Garcia-Sastre

Links for this episode:

Influenza virus receptor specificity and disease
PB1-F2 expression by 2009 H1N1 strain does not increase virulence
Protection against 2009 H1N1 infection by immunization with older strains
Passage in eggs changes influenza receptor specificity
Association between D222G mutation and virulence

TWiV #73 - Entering the ends Mar 14, 2010

Show notes

On episode #73 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, and Rich discuss multipotent progenitor bone marrow cells as a reservoir of HIV-1, integration of HHV-6 into telomeres, and dispersal of West Nile virus across the US by mosquitoes.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Rich Condit

Links for this episode:

HIV-1 infects multipotent progenitor cells
HHV-6 genome integrates into telomeres
A role for mosquito-mediated dispersal of West Nile virus across the US
Using tobacco mosaic virus to produce synthetic photovoltaic cells (thanks Nissin!)
Animation of HIV replication cycle (thanks Ilya!)
Can computer viruses evolve? (thanks Norman!)
Mumps outbreak in Israel (one and two) (thanks Ariel!)
Bocavirus infections in children (thanks Tyler!)

Weekly science picks:

Dickson Whole-Genome Sequencing in a Patient with Charcot–Marie–Tooth Neuropathy (NEJM and NY Times) Rich Invisible Frontiers: The Race to Synthesize a Human Geneby Stephen Hall Vincent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections - videocasts

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