This Week in Virology

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TWiV 693: Vax to the future Dec 13, 2020

Show notes

On this episode, FDA EUA for Pfizer mRNA vaccine, efficacy of AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine, and an orally administered drug that blocks SARS-CoV-2 transmission in ferrets.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

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BSL-3 laboratory assistant manager position
FDA advisory committee votes in favor of EUA for Pfizer vaccine (NY Times)
Sanofi/Glaxo subunit vaccine steps back (Stat)
Efficacy of ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine (Lancet)
Oral antiviral blocks SARS-CoV-2 transmission in ferrets (Nat Micro)
Letters read on TWiV 693
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson – 2020 In Photos: A Year Like No Other Brianne – Cooking for Geeks Alan – On Food and Cooking Rich – NASA Artemis (Wiki) Vincent – The virus, the bats, and us

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 692: COVID-19 clinical update #40 with Dr. Daniel Griffin Dec 11, 2020

Show notes

Daniel Griffin provides his weekly clinical report on COVID-19, including the anticipated EUA for the Pfizer mRNA vaccine, mitigation strategies in early care and education settings, expressive aphasia, and much more.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Links for this episode

Mitigation strategies in early care and education settings (MMWR)
WHO solidarity trial results (NEJM)
Letters read on TWiV 692
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 691: SciArt with Laura Splan Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

SciArtist Laura Splan joins TWiV to reveal her transdisciplinary work that intersects science, technology, design and culture, then we discuss an inverse correlation between mumps virus antibodies induced by MMR vaccine and COVID-19 severity, and whether ivermectin is indicated for treatment of COVID-19.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Laura Splan

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Links for this episode

Laura Splan website
BSL-3 Assistant Manager position
MMR titers in recovered COVID-19 patients (mBio)
Ivermectin and SARS-CoV-2 (TWiV 599)
Treatment of COVID-19 with ivermectin (Int J Inf Dis)
Ivermectin approved dosing (Mayo Clinic)
Briefing document for Pfizer vaccine (FDA)
Vaccinated? Wear a mask (NY Times)
Efficacy of ChAdOx1 vaccine (Lancet)
Mix & Match Pfizer & Oxford jabs (Times Long)
SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Seattle (medRxiv)
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Brianne – Patterns for Virus snowflakes Kathy – 2020 Nobel Prize lectures (hepatitis C) (link to all and concert) Historical review by Harvey Alter Rich – New Data Confirm 2020 SO is Upper Centaur Rocket Booster from 1960's (Wiki) Vincent – The Right Stuff

Listener Pick

Miikael – Tiny tweak behind COVID-19 vaccines

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 690: This is your brain on SARS-CoV-2 Dec 06, 2020

Show notes

TWiV reviews the difficulties in predicting species susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection by only examining the ACE2 protein, and the olfactory mucosa as a portal of entry into the central nervous system in COVID-19 patients.

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

Guest: Amy Rosenfeld

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Links for this episode

NYC will create pandemic response institute (NY Bus J)
Comparison of ACE2 in vertebrates (PNAS)
Olfactory transmucosal invasion of CNS by SARS-CoV-2 (Nat Neurosci)
Letters read on TWiV 690
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson – National Geographic best animal photos of 2020 Amy – American Contagions: Epidemics and the law from Smallpox to COVID-19 by John Fabian Witt Alan – HamSCI citizen science organization Rich – DeepMind's AI makes gigantic leap in solving protein structures Vincent – Army Ants: Nature's Ultimate Social Hunters by Daniel Kronauer

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 689: COVID-19 clinical update #39 with Dr. Daniel Griffin Dec 05, 2020

Show notes

Daniel Griffin provides his weekly clinical report on COVID-19, including analysis of vitamin D levels in patients, information on Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, distribution plans suggested by ACIP, and more.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Links for this episode

Vitamin D levels in COVID-19 patients (Nature)
ACIP recommendations for distribution of COVID-19 vaccine (MMWR)
Updated CDC guidance on when to quarantine (CDC)
Letters read on TWiV 689
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 688: We put COVID-19 papers through a sieve Dec 03, 2020

Show notes

TWiV 688: We put COVID-19 papers through a sieve December 2, 2020

On this episode, UK grants EUA for Pfizer vaccine, advice for CDC on who to immunize first, news from Das Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 protease regulates innate responses, and viral mRNAs are not an indication of viral replication.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

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Links for this episode

UK grants EUA for Pfizer vaccine (NY Times)
ACIP advice on who to vaccinate first (NY Times)
Das coronavirus update
SARS-CoV-2 protease regulates innate response (Nature)
Viral mRNAs do not indicate viral replication (Nat Comm)
Addendum to SARS-CoV-2 discovery paper (Nature) 16:15
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine and GC formation (Immunity) 29:35
What scientists say about masks (NY Times) 1:29:03
Letters read on TWiV 688
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Brianne – Pedromics Kathy – Global map at Mars opposition Rich – Janeway's Immunobiology Vincent – Janet Iwasa's Animation Lab

Listener Pick

Cheryl – BioRender.com holiday card templates

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 687: Peter Hotez sticks to the vax Nov 29, 2020

Show notes

Peter Hotez joins TWiV to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, including why it went out of control in the US, the hijacking of public health practices by anti-science extremist groups, prospects for control, and whether we will be prepared for the next one.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Guest: Peter Hotez

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Links for this episode

Peter Hotez on TWiP 29 and TWiV Special
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 (Microbes Inf)
SARS-CoV-2 RBD protein vaccine candidate (bioRxiv)
Anti-science extremism in America (Microbes Inf)
Low cost accessible COVID-19 vaccine (PLoS NTD)
Letters read on TWiV 687
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson – The World's First Energy-Positive Hotel to Open in Norway Brianne – The Food Lab: Better Hom e Cooking Through Science Alan – ACIP's ethical principles for COVID-19 vaccine allocation Rich – The Mandolorian Vincent – T. rex and the Crater of Doom by Walter Alvarez

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 686: COVID-19 clinical update #38 with Dr. Daniel Griffin Nov 28, 2020

Show notes

Daniel Griffin provides his weekly clinical report on COVID-19, including new post-exposure guidelines from CDC, clinical trials of Remdesivir and convalescent plasma, FDA EUA for baricitinib and Regeneron's monoclonal antibody and more.

Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello

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Links for this episode

WHO Solidarity trial for Remdesivir and other drugs (medRxiv)
EUA for Baricitinib (FDA)
EUA for Casirivimab and Imdevimab (FDA)
RCT: No benefit of convalescent plasma (NEJM)
Letters read on TWiV 686
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 685: Pandemicky Nov 26, 2020

Show notes

The TWiVers analyze efficacy of the AstraZeneca/Oxford adenovirus vectored vaccine, SARS-CoV-2 did not infect miners who became ill 8 years ago after cleaning bat guano from a cave in Yunnan Province, and induction of antigen-specific germinal center responses and production of neutralizing antibody by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine but not purified protein.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, emailBecome a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

AZD1222 vaccine efficacy (AstraZeneca)
Addendum to SARS-CoV-2 discovery paper (Nature)
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine and GC formation (Immunity)
What scientists say about masks (NY Times)
Letters read on TWiV 685
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Brianne – Types of Scientists Coloring Book Kathy – South Pole video Rich – Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson Vincent – Screenology (I interviewed Deb Sklut here)

Listener Pick

Mona – Ad5 vector and podcast with ImmunityBio founder

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 684: Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 immune memory Nov 22, 2020

Show notes

Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19, and Shane Crotty explains a study of antibodies, B cells and T cells in patients which suggests that immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 might be long-lived.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker

Guests: Daniel Griffin and Shane Crotty

Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode