This Week in Virology

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 dis...

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: Treat...

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: Contami...

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...

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 por...

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 20...

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 geno...

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 epi...

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...

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...

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...

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 v...

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 Vir...

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...

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: Mis...

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 disord...

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 Bavari...

On episode #62 of the podcast  This Week in Virology , Vincent, Dickson, and Alan discuss STEP HIV-1 vaccine failure caused by the adenovirus vector, presence of West Nile virus in kidneys for years after initial infection, adaptation of the influenza viral RNA polymerase for replication in human cells, and the significance of the D225G change in the influenza HA protein. Host links Vincent Racani...

On episode 61 of the podcast "This Week in Virology", Vincent and Dick muse about the symbiotic bacterium, Wolbachia , that protects flies from viral infection, the origin of 2009 influenza H1N1 virus, and the lure of original antigenic sin. Host links Vincent Racaniello and  Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: Variation in antiviral protection mediated by different  Wolbachia strains in  D...

Vincent and Dickson continue Virology 101 with a discussion of how RNA viruses produce mRNA and replicate their genomes. Host links Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: Diagrams of viral RNA synthesis Animations of  influenza virus and  HIV-1 replication

A TWiV panel of five considers the finding of  Streptococcus pneumoniae in fatal H1N1 cases in Argentina, hysteria in the Ukraine over pandemic influenza, and human vaccinia infection after contact with a raccoon rabies vaccine bait. Host links Vincent Racaniello ,  Alan Dove ,  Rich Condit ,  Gustavo Palacios , and  Mady Hornig Links for this episode: Argentine flu death mystery H1N1 influenza ou...

Vincent, Dick, and Alan are joined by emergency medicine physician Dr. Joshua Stillman to talk about passive antibody therapy for Nipah infection in ferrets, annual influenza immunization of children, facemasks to prevent influenza, predicting dengue outbreaks by the weather, and the amazing viral communities in an icy Antarctic lake. Host links Vincent Racaniello , Dick Despommier , Alan Dove , a...

Vincent visits Scotch Plains – Fanwood High School and talks about viruses with high school biology students. Host links : Vincent Racaniello Links for this episode: Vincent’s presentation (pdf) Thank you  letters Oncolytic reovirus Does  rhinovirus interfere with influenza?

Vincent, Dick, Alan, and Cliff answer questions from listeners on swine influenza origins, transmission, virulence, and vaccines, HIV and AIDS, and more. Host links : Vincent Racaniello ,  Dick Despommier ,  Alan Dove , and Cliff Mintz Links for this episode:   Physicists propose ' Schrödinger's Virus ' experiment (thanks Duncan) Nanoparticle adjuvant ( ScienceDaily and  Journal of Controlled Rele...

The largest TWiV panel ever assembled takes on XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome, 2009 chemistry Nobel prizes for ribosome structure, finding new poxvirus vaccine candidates, a brouhaha over leaked Canadian data on flu susceptibility, and transmission of H1N1 influenza to a pet ferret. Hosts : Vincent Racaniello ,  Dick Despommier ,  Alan Dove , Jason Rodriguez, and  Rich Condit Links for this epi...