TWiV Special: Ignorance with Stuart Firestein

Details

Created on Saturday, 29 December 2012 14:42

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Stuart Firestein

Vincent and Stuart discuss why ignorance - all of what we don't know, and even what we don't know we don't know - is the driving force of science.

Download: 58 MB .mp3, 81 min

Links for this episode:

• Ignorance: How it drives Science by Stuart Firestein
• Ignorance website

TWiV 212: Apocalypse TWiV 122112 212

Details

Created on Monday, 24 December 2012 01:10

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

The TWiVerers answer listener email about genetically modified chickens, a hendra vaccine for horses, online education, curing color blindness, Roosevelt and polio, Th cells, and much more.

Download TWiV 212 (78 MB .mp3, 108 min)

Listen on your mobile device

Subscribe to TWiV (free): iTunes, RSS feed, email

Links for this episode:

• TWiV 116: Cocaine, colonies, and chickens
• Glofish
• Recombinant Hendra vaccine
• Gene therapy for color blindness (Nature)
• FDR, polio, and Guillain-Barré
• Transcript of TWiV 197: Philip Marcus (pdf)
• TWiV 10: Bats, elephants, and AIDS
• TWiM 6: Phage therapy
• TWiP 47: For whom the trich tolls
• Viruses of protozoan parasites (virology blog)
• Long in the tooth
• Transcript of 'How to read a science paper' (pdf)
• FEMA disaster preparedness courses
• Letters read on TWiV 212

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Mark - Life of a Nature paper
Ricardo - Things don't go viral

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.

TWiV 211: Viruses r us

Details

Created on Sunday, 16 December 2012 21:55

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

The TWiV four discuss an mRNA-based influenza vaccine, and a phage tubulin that forms a filamentous array in the host cell that is needed for positioning viral DNA.

Download TWiV 211 (70 MB .mp3, 97 min)

Listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app Subscribe to TWiV (free): iTunes, RSS feed, email

Links for this episode:

• mRNA vaccine against influenza (Nat Biotech)
• Phage tubulin assembles dynamic filaments (Cell)
• Viral skeleton (The Scientist)
• Not unorganized bags of enzymes (TWiM 28)
• Bacterial cytoskeleton (FEMS Micro Rev)
• Triangulation number (jpg)
• Letters read on TWiV 211

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Stephen - WEHI.TV

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.

TWiV 210: Bond, covalent bond

Details

Created on Sunday, 09 December 2012 16:03

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

The complete TWiV team reviews identification of the cell receptor for hepatitis B and D viruses, and the cell enzyme that cleaves the genome-linked protein from picornaviral RNA.

Download TWiV 210 (67 MB .mp3, 93 min)

Listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app Subscribe to TWiV (free): iTunes, RSS feed, email

Links for this episode:

• HBV and HDV cell receptor (eLIFE)
• Getting to grips with hepatitis (eLIFE)
• Sodium taurocholate
• Poliovirus hijacks DNA repair enzyme (PNAS)
• Letters read on TWiV 210

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Ken - Spanish flu pandemic model (teacher's guide)
Jim - Santa Cruz Science Communication Program (also see SHERP)

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.

TWiV 209: When the virus hits the fans

Details

Created on Sunday, 02 December 2012 23:10

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Dickson, Alan, and Kathy answer listener email about deformed wing virus, West Nile virus, FluMist, influenza in Canada, viruses and the tree of life, and more.

Download TWiV 209 (81 MB .mp3, 113 min)

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

Links for this episode:

• Postcard from the ultimate student athlete (pdf)
• Fidelity of protein synthesis (Biochemistry, 5th ed.)
• Letters read on TWiV 209

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Ricardo - Once upon a time: The possible story of viruses
Jim - Encode, myIDP, Experiment Reproduction podcasts
Mark - MoMath

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.

TWiV 208: The biomedical research crisis with Jon Yewdell

Details

Created on Sunday, 25 November 2012 22:10

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Jon Yewdell

Vincent is joined by special guest Jon Yewdell to discuss solutions for ending the current crisis in American biomedical research.

Download TWiV 208 (63 MB .mp3, 87 min)

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

Links for this episode:

• How to succeed in science: Taking the plunge (Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol)
• How to succeed in science: Making discoveries (Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol)
• How to succeed in science (YouTube)
• Resources for graduate students and postdocs
• Science career cartoons by Alexander Dent

TWiV 207: Silk sheets and viral infidelity

Details

Created on Monday, 19 November 2012 16:33

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Matt Frieman, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Alan, Matt, and Kathy review the use of silk to stabilize antibiotics and a viral vaccine, and an impaired-fidelity vaccine against SARS coronavirus.

Right-click to download TWiV 207 (76 MB .mp3, 106 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:

• Silk stabilization of antibiotics and vaccines (PNAS)
• Impaired-fidelity coronavirus vaccine (Nature Medicine)
• Select agent status and SARS therapies (Spoonful of Medicine)
• Letters read on TWiV 207

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Ricardo - Blackawton bees and Science is for everyone (TED)
Tony - Biophilia by Bjork

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.

TWiV 206: Viral turducken

Details

Created on Sunday, 11 November 2012 17:59

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Dickson Despommier, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Alan, Dickson, and Kathy discuss how the innate immune response to viral infection influences the production of pluripotent stem cells, and the diverse mobilome of giant viruses.

Right-click to download TWiV 206 (72 MB .mp3, 100 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:

• Innate immunity and nuclear reprogramming (Cell)
• Viruses affect cell reprogramming (The Scientist)
• Cell-penetrating peptides (Trends Mol Med)
• Provirophages and transpovirons (PNAS)
• Organic Lake photo and map
• Letters read on TWiV 206

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Allison - Fred Guterl on The Daily Show

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. .

TWiV 205: Genetic conflict with Harmit Malik

Details

Created on Friday, 09 November 2012 02:57

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Harmit Malik

Vincent is joined by special guest Harmit Malik to discuss his work on the evolution of genetic conflict.

Right-click to download TWiV 205 (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:

• Harmit on YouTube
• Retroviruses and mammalian placentation (PNAS)
• Paleovirology (Curr Opin Virol)
• Evolution among AIM2-like receptors (J Exp Med)
• Poxvirus genomic accordions (Cell)
• Letters read on TWiV 205

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Steve - Mural of Henrietta Lacks story (alternate link)

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. . You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

TWiV 204: M m m my corona

Details

Created on Monday, 22 October 2012 15:50

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Matt Frieman, and Kathy Spindler

Vincent, Alan, Matt and Kathy review isolation of a new coronavirus from two patients in the Middle East, and expansion of the enteric virome during simian AIDS.

Right-click to download TWiV 204 (66 MB .mp3, 96 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:

• Novel coronavirus (virology blog one, two)
• PCR assay for novel CoV (Eurosurveillance)
• Isolation of novel coronavirus (NEJM)
• SARS CoV now a select agent (Federal Register, pdf)
• My Sharona
• Pathogenic SIV infection associated with expansion of gut virome (Cell)
• Letters read on TWiV 204

Weekly Science Picks

Listener Pick of the Week

Nissin - Jungle Jim (1948)

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. . You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.