This Week in Virology

David joins TWiV to relate how his near-death experience with Castleman’s disease motivated him to found the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory and the CORONA project to identify and track all treatments reported for COVID-19 in an open-source data repository. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Guest: David Fajgenbaum Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode CORONA project Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory Castleman Disease Collaborative Network Chasing My Cure Letters read on TWiV 766 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – How Giraffes Beat High Blood Pressure Kathy – Orangutan optical illusion Vincent – Two quotes from Chasing My Cure by David Fajgenbaum John Paul II: Dear young people, whether you are believers or not, accept the call to be virtuous. This means being strong within, having a big heart, being rich in the highest sentiments, bold in the truth, courageous in freedom, constant in responsibility, generous in love, invincible in hope. David: Never stop questioning and always follow the data. Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV reviews the new nomenclature for SARS-CoV-2 variants, effectiveness of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against variants, modified Moderna vaccine against variants, impact of COVID-19 interventions on influenza in China and the US, and binding of RaTG13 spike protein to ACE2 of multiple species. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Updated nomenclature of SARS-CoV-2 variants (WHO) Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine effective against alpha variants (Lancet) Novavax vaccine effective against beta variants (NEJM) Moderna updated vaccine against beta and gamma variants (medRxiv) Impact of COVID-19 interventions against influenza (Nat Comm) RaTG13 spike binding to various ACE2 proteins (Cell) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson – NASA’s Juno to Get a Close Look at Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede Brianne – Send in the Bugs. The Michelangelos Need Cleaning. Rich – All landers and rovers on Mars  animated in video with human scale Alan – Weird case cluster reported in MMWR 40 years ago; update on disease Vincent – Virus isolates, strains, variants – what are they? Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In COVID-19 clinical update #65, Daniel Griffin summarizes effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions, updated summer camp guidance from CDC, serology testing not recommended by FDA, antigen tests during a music event, inhibition of vaccine immunogenicity by methotrexate, phase 3 trial results for colchicine, and small airway disease as a post-acute sequelae. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Effects of vaccines and NPIs (JAMA) Guidance on summer camps (CDC) Antibody testing not recommended (FDA) Antigen testing at a music event (Lancet) Methotrexate and vaccine immunogenicity (Ann Rheum Dis) Colchicine phase 3 results (Lancet Resp Med) Small airway disease a post-acute sequelae (medRxiv) Letters read on TWiV 764 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV explains how cap-snatching, the priming of viral mRNA synthesis with fragments of host mRNAs, can lead to the synthesis of novel viral proteins. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Cap-snatching makes new ORFs (Cell) Cap-snatching leads to novel proteins (Cell) Letters read on TWiV 763 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Kathy – Flat pasta that turns into shapes here and here Rich – Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart (wiki) Vincent – Martin Beck police mysteries Listener Picks Greg – Stewart Lee on Loch Ness monster Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

Robert Garry joins TWiV to explain how the molecular biology of SARS-CoV-2 shows that it came from Nature and not a lab, including the receptor binding domain, the furin cleavage site, and the two lineages circulating in Wuhan wildlife markets. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker Guest: Robert Garry Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2 (Nature) Two early genome lineages in Wuhan markets (virological.org) Insights from spike proteins of bat sarbecoviruses (virological.org) Letters read on TWiV 762 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson – 143 Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena Brianne – The Arcane Research that Prepared Us for COVID-19 Rich – Hidden Brain podcast Alan – A scientific theory of gist communication Vincent – Divisive COVID ‘lab leak’ debate prompts dire warnings from researchers Listener Picks Jon – Moderna Science Day Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In COVID-19 clinical update #64, Daniel Griffin covers new guidance from NY on day camps, mitigation and infection rates in schools, testing to sustain in person instruction, Moderna mRNA vaccine highly effective in adolescents, longer storage of Pfizer vaccine, FDA EUA for sotrovimab, and persistent illness in UK children. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Guidance on child camps and day care (NY State) Mitigation and schools (medRxiv) Masks in elementary schools (MMWR) Testing to sustain in person instruction (MMWR) TeenCOVE results (Moderna) Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine handling and storage (CDC) EUA for sotrovimab (FDA) Illness duration in UK schoolchildren (medRxiv) Letters read on TWiV 761 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

Peter Daszak, Thea Kølsen Fischer, and Marion Koopmans, members of the WHO team investigating the origins of SARS-CoV-2 join TWiV to explain the work done by the committee during phase one, their conclusions, and the extent of work that remains to be done in phase two. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler Guests: Peter Daszak, Thea Kølsen Fischer, and Marion Koopmans Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Peter on TWiV 615, 623 Thea on TWiV 576 Marion on TWiV 413, 548 WHO report on origins of SARS-CoV-2 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Kathy – My Octopus Teacher Rich – John Wyndam classic Sci Fi: The Chrysalids, The Day of the Triffids Vincent – SARS-CoV-2 Phylogeny and Spatiotemporal Spread (paper) Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV examines spillovers of porcine and canine coronaviruses into humans in Haiti and Malaysia, and how antigenic evolution of measles virus is constrained by multiple co-dominant epitopes on the viral glycoproteins. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Amy Rosenfeld Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode ASV vaccine town halls 15:10 Porcine deltacoronavirus in Haitian children (medRxiv) Canine coronavirus from Malaysian pneumonia patient (Clin Inf Dis) No shift, measles (TWiV 340) The Cancer Thief (TWiV Letters read on TWiV 759 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson – Ants: workers of the world Amy – Let The Record Show by Sarah Schulman Rich – QAnon resembles the games I design Alan – Librivox Vincent – Stratechery Listener Picks Fernando – The 60-year old scientific screwup that helped COVID kill Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In COVID-19 clinical update #63, Daniel Griffin reviews cases at child care facilities, estimates of mRNA vaccine effectiveness, risk of reinfection in university students, enhanced antibody generation with extended interval of mRNA vaccination, no benefit of convalescent plasma in hospitalized patients, and risk of clinical sequelae after acute infection. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode COVID-19 in child care facilities (MMWR) mRNA vaccine effectiveness (MMWR) Excelsior pass (NYS) Risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in university students (CID) Enhanced antibody production with longer mRNA vaccine interval (medRxiv) Convalescent plasma trial in hospitalized patients (Lancet) Phase 3 data on REGEN-COV (PR Newswire) Clinical sequelae after acute COVID-19 (BMJ) Letters read on TWiV 758 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV reveals that 2% of SARS-CoV-2−positive individuals carry 90% of the virus circulating in a college campus, and a nanoparticle vaccine that induces cross-reactive immunity against multiple pandemic and pre-emergent coronaviruses. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode ASV vaccine town halls 2% of SARS-CoV-2 positives carry most viral RNA (PNAS) Pan-coronavirus nanoparticle vaccine (Nature) Why HIV-1 particles have few spikes (PLoS Path) Letters read on TWiV 757 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – Darwin’s Arch Collapses Kathy – The woman who discovered the first coronavirus Rich – “Richard Feynman: The pleasure of finding things out” Vincent – CORONA Project Listener Picks JH – Fungus kills cicadas Alan – Liftoff by Eric Berger Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv