This Week in Virology

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

TWiV returns to the 2012 brouhaha over transmission experiments with avian H5N1 influenza virus, re-examines the claim of SARS-CoV-2 RNA integration into human DNA, and reviews the engineering and testing of a genetically stable version of the attenuated type 2 Sabin poliovirus vaccine. 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 3:16 First smallpox vaccine day Revised masking and distancing (CDC) Science vs Spin (Sandman) Artifactual SARS-CoV-2 integration (PNAS) SARS-CoV-2 integration is artifactual (J Virol) Engineering new OPV2 (Cell Host Micr) Safety and immunogenicity of nOPV2 (Lancet) Poliopolis (Lancet) Letters read on TWiV 756 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson – Five Deeps Amy – Premonition by Michael Lewis Alan – The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr Rich – The Way Ferrofluid Floats Above a Superconductor Is Unreal Vincent – Threading the NEIDL Listener Picks Iradis – SN15 Launch and Landing Blue Pilgrim – Howland Garden Tools Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

In COVID-19 clinical update #62, Daniel Griffin covers outdoor transmission of the virus, safe use of NSAIDS, expansion of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to include 12-15 year olds, post-disease Mucormycosis, and hydroxychloroquine treatment associated with increased mortality. Hosts: Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Moderna vaccine safe, effective in teens (AAP news) Review of outdoor transmission (JID) Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine EUA 12-15 year olds (FDA) NSAIDS safe in COVID-19 (Lancet Rheum) Post-COVID black fungus (Laryngol Otol) HCQ and increased mortality (Nat Comm) Letters read on TWiV 755 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv

TWiV discusses the finding that the envelope (E) protein of SARS-CoV-2 is sensed by toll-like receptor 2 on cells, leading to the production of inflammatory cytokines that cause damage to cells and tissues in COVID-19. 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 Michelson Prizes FDA authorizes Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine for adolescents (FDA) TLR2 senses SARS-CoV-2 E protein (Nat Imm) Review on CoV E protein (Virology J) Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – Lab.Hacks Lab Assistant App Rich – Weird viral DNA spills secrets to biologists; COVAX Kathy – Planet Earth Now Vincent – Variants at ViralZone Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv

TWiV revisits Brazil's rejection of Sputnik vaccine, examines influenza transmission via the air from the nasal epithelium of ferrets, and a history of accidental releases of polioviruses and their relevance for eradication of poliomyelitis. 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 ASV vaccine town halls Sputnik Light Ferret airborne transmission of influenza virus (Nat Comm) Facility releases of poliovirus (Emerg Inf Dis) Polio eradication progress (Polio Erad Init) Letters read on TWiV 753 Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks! Weekly Picks Dickson – Exotic mantis Brianne – Types of Scientific Paper Alan – Rusty Lake Games / Cube Escape Collection Rich – The Departed Could Soon Become Compost in Colorado; Recompose (wiki) Vincent – Public Health Image Library Listener Pick Ivan – Apollo 11: As They Shot It Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv