This Week in Virology

On episode #83 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, Rich, and special guest Dr. Kirsten Sanford talk about her career in science media, then consider whether smallpox eradication led to the AIDS pandemic, high fidelity RNA synthesis, and a new Ebola virus vaccine. Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kirsten Sanford Links for this episode: Does smallpox vaccine protect against HIV? (thanks, Srinivas; Washington Post and BMC Immunology) Was the deltaCRR5 mutation fixed in the human population by smallpox? A proofreader in the SARS coronavirus genome New ebola vaccine protects monkeys House of Numbers trailer, website, Wikipedia article (thanks, Levi!) Letters read on TWiV 83 Weekly science picks: Alan - Evernote Rich - The Knife Man by Wendy Moore Vincent - The Pump Handle

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!)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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