TWiV 185: Dead parrots and live Wildcats

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Created on Sunday, 27 May 2012 21:27

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Sarah Connolly, Andrew Karaba, Robert Lamb, and Greg Smith

Vincent visits with members of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Northwestern University School of Medicine to discuss their work on herpesviruses and parainfluenzaviruses.

Right-click to download TWiV 185 (64 MB .mp3, 88 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• Longnecker laboratory
• Herpesvirus deubiquitinase is neuroinvasive determinant (PLoS Path)
• Paramyxovirus HN structure (PNAS)
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 185

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Ed - Pursuit of Light (YouTube); MRC Biomedical Picture of the Day; It's okay to be smart

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 184: Reforming science

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Created on Sunday, 20 May 2012 14:15

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Alan Dove

Vincent, Rich, and Alan consider how to reform the scientific enterprise to make it more effective and robust.

Right-click to download TWiV 184 (66 MB .mp3, 91 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• Reforming science: Methodological and cultural reforms (Infect Immun)
• Reforming science: Structural reforms (Infect Immun)
• Sharp rise in retractions (NY Times)
• Vannevar Bush
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 184

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Ken - Wattpad

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 183: Bats out of hell

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Created on Sunday, 13 May 2012 14:28

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Alan Dove, Dickson Despommier, and Connor Bamford

Connor joins the TWiV team to discuss bats as hosts for major mammalian paramyxoviruses.

Right-click to download TWiV 183 (66 MB .mp3, 92 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• NIH response to Osterholm letter (pdf)
• Who's afraid of the big, bad bioterrorist?
• Bats host major mammalian paramyxoviruses (Nature Comm)
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 183

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Stephen - Every Major's Terrible (xkcd)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 182: One flu over the ferrets' nest

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Created on Sunday, 06 May 2012 14:05

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Alan Dove, and Michael J. Imperiale

Michael joins the TWiV crew to discuss the recently published influenza H5N1 transmission paper and how it was viewed by the NSABB.

Right-click to download TWiV 182 (77 MB .mp3, 107 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• About the NSABB
• The Kawaoka paper (Nature)
• Mutant flu paper published (Ed Yong)
• Osterholm letter (pdf)
• US policy for dual research of concern (pdf)
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 182

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Josh - Vaccines course by Dr. Paul Offit

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 181: ORFan poxviruses and nIRFing prions

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Created on Sunday, 29 April 2012 13:41

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Rich, and Kathy discuss Cotia virus, a new poxvirus, Orf virus infections associated with handling goats and lamb, and the innate immune response to prions.

Right-click to download TWiV 181 (74 MB .mp3, 103 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• Cotia virus (J Virol)
• Human Orf virus exposures (MMWR)
• IRF3 protects agains prion infection (J Virol)
• A mad cow in America (virology blog)
• Human orf (pdf)
• Space shuttle flies outside my window (YouTube)
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 181

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Spencer - Netter's Infectious Diseases by Elaine C. Jong and Dennis L. Stevens
Richard - Germs, Genes & Civilization by David P. Clark

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 180: Throwing IFIT at flu and holding a miR to HCV

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Created on Sunday, 22 April 2012 13:56

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Vincent, Alan, and Rich review association of an interferon-induced protein with severe influenza, and stabilization of HCV RNA by a microRNA.

Right-click to download TWiV 180 (71 MB .mp3, 99 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• IFITM3 and severe influenza (Nature)
• Genetics of flu susceptibility (EurekAlert!)
• Stabilization of HCV RNA by Ago2-miR-122 (PNAS)
• Clinical trial of anti-mIR-122
• Sandman on H5N1
• Hu's on first (jpg) and original (YouTube)
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 180

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Mark - The Secret Life of Plankton (YouTube)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 179: Was ist ein Virus?

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Created on Sunday, 15 April 2012 18:46

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Gertrud Radu

Gertrud joins the TWiVoners to review how dengue virus infection of mosquitoes alters blood feeding behavior, and gene therapy as practiced by parasitoid wasps.

Right-click to download TWiV 179 (76 MB .mp3, 105 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• Renato Dulbecco, 1914-2012 (virology blog)
• William Jarrett, 83 (thanks, Lynn Enquist)
• Dengue virus infection of mosquitoes alters their behavior (PLoS Path)
• Does dengue make mosquitoes thirstier for blood? (NY Times)
• Polydnaviruses of braconid wasps (Science)
• Making nice with viruses (Science)
• Viral and wasp genes involved in symbiotic replication (J Virol)
• Amazing parasitic wasp images
• The Far Side cartoon on mosquitoes (gif)
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 179

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Ricardo - Evolution: The Natural History of Animal Skeletons
Peter - Self-assembly line (YouTube)

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 178: T-Sharp on how tequila mosquito

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Created on Sunday, 08 April 2012 15:50

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Tyler Sharp

The TWiValians meet up with Tyler Sharp for a discussion on the Epidemic Intelligence Service and controlling dengue.

Right-click to download TWiV 178 (72 MB .mp3, 99 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• 2010 dengue epidemic in Puerto Rico
• Marshall Islands dengue outbreak (one and two)
• Photo of Tyler by Loren Rodgers
• TWiV shout-out by NPR and CIDRAP
• NSABB reverses decision on H5N1 publication
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 178

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Sasha - Microfluidic Future
Adam - The Conversation
Jim -  ENIAC Programmers Project

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 177: Live in Dublin

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Created on Sunday, 01 April 2012 13:43

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Connor Bamford, Wendy Barclay, Richard Elliott, and Ron Fouchier

A discussion of avian influenza H5N1 transmission experiments in ferrets and novel bunyaviruses at the 2012 Spring Conference of the Society for General Microbiology in Dublin, Ireland.

Right-click to download TWiV 177 (47 MB .mp3, 66 minutes). Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• Restricted data on H5N1 transmission (Science)
• Novel bunyavirus in China (NEJM and TWiV 127)
• Ten things about Schmallenberg virus (Microbiology Bytes)
• NSABB reverses decision on H5N1 papers (virology blog)
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 177
• Video of this episode - view below or download:
  iPod/iPhone (768 megs | .m4v)
  Apple TV (768 megs | .m4v)
  DivX (X megs | .divx) coming soon
  WMV (X megs | .wmv) coming soon
  MPEG-4 (X megs | .mp4) coming soon

Weekly Science Picks

Connor - Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize 2012
Vincent - Thoughts on academic scientists giving media interviews

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 176: Ave magi, virorum!

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Created on Sunday, 25 March 2012 18:49

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

Vincent, Alan, and Rich answer listener email about MS, CFS, EBV, B cells, virii, influenza B, scientific papers, and more.

Right-click to download TWiV 176 (62 MB .mp3, 86 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• More than one way to skin a virus (comments)
• Aerobie aeropress
• Papers software
• Vaccinia movies (one and two)
• Lloyd Kozloff dies
• BSL4 facilities
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 176

Weekly Science Picks

Rich - Alan Alda's Flame Challenge (NY Times article, Science editorial)
Alan - ChronoZoom
Vincent - Academic Publishing is Broken by Michael P. Taylor

Listener Pick of the Week

Joel - Fighting a dengue outbreak by Tyler M. Sharp (parts one and two)
Sven-Urban - Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.