This Week in Virology

Latest Episodes:

TWiV #72 - Bucket of bolts Mar 08, 2010

Show notes

On episode #72 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, Alan and Rich explain CRISPR/Cas, the immune system of bacteria and archaea, how novel viruses are discovered by deep sequencing of small RNAs, and the relationship between dry weather and outbreaks of West Nile virus infection.

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

Links for this episode:

Review on the CRISPR/cas system of bacteria and archaea
Virus discovery by sequencing small virus-derived RNAs (paper one and two)
Dry weather induces outbreaks of West Nile virus infection (paper and comment form)
Vaccine needle size matters
Participate in the Personal Genome Project

Weekly science picks:

Dickson Scientist as Chef by Dickson Despommier (pdf) Alan Networked Organisms and Habitats (NOAH) iPhone app Rich Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat Vincent The Dish

TWiV #71 - Please Mr. Postman Feb 28, 2010

Show notes

On episode #71 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, Alan and Rich answer listener questions about maternal infection and fetal injury, viral gene therapy, eyeglasses and influenza, filtering prions from blood, eradication of rinderpest, Tamiflu resistance of H1N1 influenza, bacteriophages and the human microbiome, H1N1 vaccine recalls, human tumor viruses, RNA interference, and junk DNA.

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

Links for this episode:

Maternal infection and fetal neurological injury
Filtering prions from blood (prion capture technology)
Eradication of rinderpest (Merck veterinary manual)
Podcasts from Life in the Universe course
Immune Attack video game
H1N1 review article and Holmes on genetic hijacking
Podcast on Merck vaccines
Ft. Lee NJ snowed in (jpg)

Weekly science picks:

Dickson and Alan NSF/AAAS Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge Rich Foundation by Issac Asimov Vincent Natural Obsessions by Natalie Angier

TWiV #70 - Hacking aphid behavior Feb 21, 2010

Show notes

On episode #70 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, and Alan consider a broad spectrum antiviral against enveloped viruses, how a plant virus induces chemical signals in the host to maximize its spread, a new way to preserve viral vaccines at tropical temperatures, and the continuing story of XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Alan Dove

Links for this episode:

Broad spectrum antiviral against enveloped viruses
Chemical signals induced by a plant virus attract insect vectors to inferior hosts
New vaccine technology to make viral vaccines stable at tropical temperatures
Second UK study fails to find XMRV in chronic fatigue syndrome patients (pdf)
Nature podcast with Simon Singh and petition (thanks André!)
Letter on Wolbachia and bees (thanks Tom!)
Dickson fishing in Argentina (jpg)

Weekly science picks:

Dickson Chemical Ecology - edited by Thomas Eisner and Jerrold MeinwaldAlan Scripps Center for Mass Spectrometry Vincent Folding@home (thanks Jesper!)

TWiV #69 - They're all safecrackers Feb 08, 2010

Show notes

On episode #69 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich review recent outbreaks of mumps in the UK, US, and Israel, protection of mice against 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus by 1918-like and classical swine H1N1 vaccines, and a virus-like particle vaccine for chikungunya virus.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Links for this episode:

Mumps outbreak in Israel (ProMedMail and Eurosurveillance; thanks Lenn!) and Iowa
Retraction of Wakefield vaccines- autism study
Immunization with 1918-like and classical swine H1N1 influenza viruses protects against 2009 H1N1 strain
Virus-like particle vaccine for chikungunya virus
Image: antigenic differences in HA structures of 1918, Cal/09 and Bris/59/07 viruses
Paul Ewald articles (thanks Atila!): one, two, and three, and a recent review of the hypothesis

Weekly science picks:

Rich John Moran Florida Nature PhotographyAlan Periodic Table of Videos Vincent The Protein Databank Educational Resources

TWiV #68 - Ode to a plaque Feb 01, 2010

Show notes

On episode #68 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich are enthralled by movies of vaccinia virus plaque formation, then consider how repulsion of superinfection virions leads to rapid virus spread, and a therapeutic prostate cancer vaccine.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Links for this episode:

Rapid virus spread by repulsion of superinfection virions
Movie of vaccinia virus plaque formation (.mov)
Movie of GFP-vaccinia virus plaque formation (.mov)
More amazing vaccinia virus movies
Prostate cancer vaccine (Reuters article, original research)

Weekly science picks:

Rich Foundations of Virology - PowerPoint by Frederick A. Murphy (bio/interview pdf)Alan Spoonful of Medicine - Nature Medicine blog Vincent The Feynman Lectures (thanks Ilya!)

TWiV #67 - Wasting deer and the Hulk rabbit Jan 24, 2010

Show notes

On episode #67 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Marc Pelletier talk about chronic wasting disease of deer caused by prions, blocking the semen-derived enhancer of HIV infection with surfen, and making green transgenic rabbits using a lentiviral vector.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Marc Pelletier

Links for this episode:

Chronic wasting disease in West Virginia
Chronic wasting disease alliance and CDC webpage
Semen-derived inhibitor of viral infection (SEVI)
Surfen inhibits the action of SEVI
Making green transgenic rabbits using simian immunodeficiency virus vector
Science comedy (thanks Lucky Fractal!)

Weekly science picks:

Marc Association of Science-Technology Centers Passport ProgramAlan ZooniverseVincent Grand Rounds at the Mailman School of Public Health

TWiV #66 - Reverse transcription Jan 18, 2010

Show notes

On episode #66 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Dickson continue virology 101 with a discussion of information flow from RNA to DNA, a process known as reverse transcription, which occurs in cells infected with retroviruses, hepatitis B virus, cauliflower mosaic virus, foamy viruses, and even in uninfected cells.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Links for this episode:

Discovery of RNA tumor viruses
Reverse transcriptase found by Temin and Baltimore (pdfs)
Figures for this episode

TWiV #65 - Matt's bats Jan 10, 2010

Show notes

On episode #65 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Matthew Frieman Vincent, Alan, and Matt discuss a project to study the RNA virome of Northeastern American bats, failure to detect XMRV in UK chronic fatigue syndrome patients, and DNA of bornavirus, an RNA virus, in mammalian genomes.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Matthew Frieman

Links for this episode:

Mist net Indigo Tunnel, Western Maryland Railway (jpg)
Eric Donaldson and Amy Haskew with bat in holding bag (jpg)
XMRV not detected in UK chronic fatigue syndrome patients (virology blog)
Bornavirus DNA in the mammalian genome
Arenavirus DNA can be integrated into the cell genome
Rabid raccoons in Central Park, NYC

TWiV #64 - Ten virology stories of 2009 Jan 03, 2010

Show notes

On episode #64 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich discuss ten compelling virology stories of 2009.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Ten virology stories of 2009:

Pandemic influenza: Swine-origin H1N1 virus (TWiV 36)
XMRV, prostate cancer, and chronic fatigue syndrome (TWiV 50, 55)
AIDS vaccine 'success' (TWiV 51)
Colony collapse disorder (TWiV 46, 49)
AIDS-like disease in wild chimps (TWiV 45)
Diverse viral community in Antarctic lake (TWiV 58)
Polyomavirus seroepidemiology in humans (TWiV 26)
Poxvirus threatens UK red squirrels (TWiV 63)
Polio spreads from Nigeria (TWiV 29)
How mosquitoes survive Dengue virus infection (TWiV 21)

Picture book on viruses for kids (Thanks Soraia!)

TWiV #63 - Melting pot virus Dec 20, 2009

Show notes

On episode #63 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich talk about US government contract for freeze-dried smallpox vaccine, red squirrels in the UK threatened by poxvirus, and Marseillevirus, another DNA virus from amoebae built for comfort and speed.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Links for this episode:

US Government awards contract to Bavarian Nordic for freeze-dried smallpox vaccine (pdf and clinical trial)
UK red squirrels threatened by poxvirus: news article one and two,epidemiologyand experimental infection
Another huge virus from amoebae (Wired article, PNASarticle, review article)
Discussion on rabies bait vaccine at virology blog, and status of the program
Viral diseases of humans (pdf)

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