This Week in Virology

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TWiV 482: Don't EVEome without antibody expressed Feb 25, 2018

Show notes

The TWiV Masters discuss serologic evidence of Ebolavirus infection in a population with no outbreaks, and the set of endogenous viral elements in the mosquito genome.

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

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Links for this episode

USA Science and Engineering Festival
Ebolavirus infection without an outbreak (J Inf Dis)
A. aegypti EVEome (Curr Biol)
One Loop to Rule Them All (Trends Biochem Sci)
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Letters read on TWiV 482

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy - Origami sound barrier Brianne - iBiology Dickson - Switched-on bats Alan - Hawaii's communication breakdown Vincent - Inside the Federal Bureau of way too many guns and What I Saw Treating Parkland Victims

Listener Pick

Johnye - Debunking Anti-Vaxxers

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 481: And biles to go before I delete Feb 18, 2018

Show notes

The TWiVodrome considers the intestinal tract as an alternative infection route for MERS coronavirus, and how reduced accumulation of defective viral RNAs might lead to severe influenza.

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

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Links for this episode

HaHa influenza virus (mBio)
MERS coronavirus intestinal transmission (Sci Adv)
Simulated gastric and intestinal fluids
Stomacher
Defective genomes and severe influenza (PLoS Path)
Image credit
Letters read on TWiV 481

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy - CD45.1 and CD45.2 mice may not be functionally equivalent Rich - Relative humidity versus dewpoint (video) Dickson - Underwater photography winners Alan - Photo of a single atom Vincent - Proposed Federal science budget cuts and The Blog is Dead

Listener Pick

Jess - Louis Tompkins Wright

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 480: The PFU in your achoo Feb 11, 2018

Show notes

Scott Hensley joins the TWiVites to review the current influenza season and presence of the virus in exhaled breath of symptomatic cases.

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

Guest: Scott Hensley

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Links for this episode

Weekly influenza surveillance (CDC)
Influenza vaccination status (CDC)
H3N2 glycosylation site and eggs (PNAS)
Influenza virus in exhaled breath (PNAS)
Geometric Defects and Icosahedral Viruses (Viruses)
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Letters read on TWiV 480

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy - Flow Virometry Rich - Falcon Heavy Launch links: Flight diagram; Launch including booster landing; Tesla in space; Tesla orbit; Reusable booster failures; Booster size Dickson - Next generation of weapons Alan - Ed Yong's story on fixing gender imbalance in science reporting Vincent - CD4 Hunter iOS Android

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 479: Trypsin the flight fantastic Feb 04, 2018

Show notes

The TWiVome explores induction of antiviral responses by repeating patterns of capsids, and a fungus in the mosquito gut that aids dengue virus replication.

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

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Links for this episode

Innate immune detection of capsid patterns (mBio)
Mosquito gut fungus aids dengue virus replication (eLife)
Nominate MicrobeTV for a Keck award
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Letters read on TWiV 479

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy - Great Lakes, false color Rich - Times 360 Lego factory tour Dickson - 3D printed houses Alan - The new terms for trust in journalism Vincent - A Tale of Two Cultures and Why Science Blogging Still Matters

Listener Picks

Jolene - Immune Quest

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 478: A pox on your horse Jan 28, 2018

Show notes

The TWiV team explains how infectious horsepox virus - likely the ancestor of smallpox vaccines - was recovered from chemically synthesized DNA fragments.

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

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Links for this episode

ASV 2018: asv.org, asv2018.umd.edu
Potential Zika virus related birth defects, USA (MMWR)
Bordering on an outbreak (Tex Obs)
Horsepox virus from synthesized DNA (PLoS One)
Horsepox based smallpox vaccine (NEJM)
Has horsepox become extinct? (Vet Rec)
Evolutionary path of smallpox vaccines (Lancet Inf Dis)
Equination (Vaccine)
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Letters read on TWiV 478

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy - UM EEB photo contest Rich - Dino-Lite digital microscope and digital microscope camera Dickson - Sandford Photography Alan - A list of female virologists Vincent - Virology Lectures 2018

Listener Picks

Andrew - Interferome Neva - The Untreatable by Gavin Francis

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 477: Raiders of the lost Arc Jan 20, 2018

Show notes

The TWiVodrome explains how a gag-like protein from a retrotransposon forms virus-like particles that carry mRNA within vesicles across the synapse.

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

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Links for this episode

ASV 2018: asv.org, asv2018.umd.edu
Arc virus-like particles transport RNA across the synapse (mammalian, Drosophila)
Chemical synapse (Wikipedia)
2 minute video on the neuron
Image credit
Letters read on TWiV 477

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy - Ice cliffs form over the weekend Rich - The Courage To Invent: A NASA Roboticist Tells Her Story (Ayanna Howard) Dickson - 2017 Was One of the Hottest Years on Record Alan - Experimenter gender and replicability Vincent - Set Your Autocorrect to Change 'Guys' to 'Folks'

Listener Picks

Asal - 100 million chickens with avian flu Mark - Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 476: In ACOD1 we trust Jan 14, 2018

Show notes

Nels joins the TWiV team to talk about his work on genomic accordions in vaccinia virus, hepatitis B virus in a 439 year old mummy, and viral induction of energy synthesis by a long noncoding RNA.

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

Guest: Nels Elde

Click arrow to play Download TWiV 476 (63 MB .mp3, 105 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email

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Links for this episode

ASV 2018: asv.org, asv2018.umd.edu
TWiV is a must-listen (WaPo)
More on poxvirus accordions (bioRxiv)
HBV from a 439 year old mummy (PLoS Path)
lncRNA promotes viral replication by inducing metabolism (Science)
Making Data Visual
Letters read on TWiV 476

Weekly Science Picks

Nels - Everyday Evolution Kathy - Paper-fold an ellipse Rich - Oxford Nanopore Technologies: YouTube channel; General technology; DNA sequencing; Sequencing singularity Dickson - Spiders that look like pelicans Alan - Guessing pool for China Spacelab reentry Vincent - How to take a picture of the stealth bomber over the rose bowl

Listener Picks

Gretchen - The Bearded Lady Project

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 475: Everything is viral Jan 07, 2018

Show notes

In the first episode for 2018, the TWiV team reviews the amazing virology stories of 2017.

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

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Links for this episode

ASV 2018: asv.org, asv2018.umd.edu
Virology stories of 2017 - in no particular order
1. A virologist in space - TWiV 444
2. Cool things viruses do: Astrovirus capsids are enterotoxins TWiV 423; giant Klosneuviruses encode lots of stuff for translation TWiV 437; Giant Noumeaviruses quickly make the nucleus temporarily leaky TWiV 440
3. TWiV 438 Drs. TWiV go to Washington and the March for Science
4. Unexpected stuff: TWiV 451 Expectorate the unexpected; TWiV 470 Just a passing phage; TWiV 456 Be careful of canons; TWiV 455 Pork and genes; TWiV 432 gamete fusion protein from viruses
5. TWiV 443 On a leaf no one can hear you scream. The puppet master.
6. TWiV 448 Mavis the structure maven
7. Viruses are us: TWiV 472 Riddle of the skinks; TWiV 439 The purloined envelope; TWiV 434 Live long and pupate
8. Antiviral RNA: TWiV 433 Poops viruses and worms; TWiV 449 The sound of non-silencing; TWiV 450 Ben tenOever and RNA out
9. Viruses as tools: TWiV 461 Gotta trace them all
10. Flaviviruses: TWiV 473, 471, 468; 458; 454; 451; 432; 430; 429; 426
NSF survey of earned doctorates
Letters read on TWiV 475

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy - Voyager recording and book Rich - David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (Maktao) Dickson - Global Croplands Map Alan - The Great Influenza one day at a time Vincent - The Doomsday Machine by Daniel Ellsberg

Listener Picks

Mark - Science Moms and Science of HIV Andy - Ask Me Anything Steve - Critical Attitude in Medicine

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 474: Call me fish meal Dec 31, 2017

Show notes

The TWiVanguardians take on Bodo saltans virus, a leviathan which infects an abundant flagellated eukaryote in Earth's waters.

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

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Links for this episode

ASV 2018: asv.org, asv2018.umd.edu
Support Microbe.tv
Anti-dengue antibody and disease (J Inf Dis)
Bodo saltans virus (biorXiv)
Kinetoplast DNA (Euk Cell)
Crossword puzzle for book contest (pdf)
Letters read on TWiV 474

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy - Every second Dickson - Top 10 Science Images 2017 Alan - Shortwave Radiogram Vincent - Science March on Instagram

Listener Picks

Islam - Class Crossword (Armored Penguin) Peter - The Last of the Iron Lungs

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV 473: Assessing a risk and infecting you twice Dec 24, 2017

Show notes

The Fellowship of the Virus discuss enhancement of dengue disease in humans: the contribution of antibody concentration and increased binding to Fc receptors.

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

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Links for this episode