TWiV 46: Virus entry into cells

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Created on Sunday, 23 August 2009 15:19

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts : Vincent Racaniello and Dick Despommier

Vincent and Dick continue virology 101 with a discussion of virus entry into cells, then answer reader email on colony collapse disorder and viruses that confer a benefit to their host.

Links for this episode:

• Illustrations of virus entry into cells
• Nice reference for biological items (thanks Jim!)
• Colony collapse disorder: PBS program,  descriptive study, metagenomic study, genetic analysis (thanks Swiss compass!)
• Potato virus Y and Alzheimer's disease (thanks Jennifer!)
• A virus in a fungus in a plant (thanks Jennifer!)

Weekly Science Picks

Vincent PLoS Pearls
Dick West Nile virus website at CDC

Contact

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TWiV #46 (59 MB .mp3, 86 minutes)

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TWiV 45: Hendra and polio are back

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Created on Sunday, 16 August 2009 13:56

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts : Vincent Racaniello , Dick Despommier , Alan Dove , and Jennifer Drahos

Vincent, Dick, Alan, and Jennifer Drahos tackle the Hendra virus disease outbreak in Australia, AIDS-like disease in wild chimps, return of polio type 2 in Nigeria, the influenza pandemic wave, and rabies in three countries.

Links for this episode:

• Hendra virus killing horses in Australia
• AIDS-like disease in wild chimps [ NY Times ]
• Polio type 2 returns in Nigeria
• Influenza pandemic wave [Branswell ]
• Rabies in Ukraine , South Africa , and USA
• Cell phones turned into fluorescent microscopes [Thanks, Jim!]
• HIV-1 vaccine trial in South Africa [Thanks Duncan!]
• Forum discussion on flu vaccine [Thanks James!]
• The Brain Science Podcast [Thanks Jim!]
• WHO note on H1N1 vaccine safety
• CDC information on H1N1 vaccines
• Hans Christian Orsted

Weekly Science Picks

Jennifer Art of Science 2009
Vincent Nobel Intent
Dick Diversity of Life by EO Wilson
Alan MediaWiki (install tips )

Contact

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TWiV #45 (59 MB .mp3, 86 minutes)

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TWiV 44: No hysteria

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Created on Sunday, 09 August 2009 14:16

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, and Jennifer Drahos

Vincent, Dick, Alan, and Jennifer Drahos consider Marburg virus in Egyptian fruit bats, bacterial citrus pathogen found in shipping facility, canine parvovirus in Michigan, Relenza-resistant influenza virus, new HIV from gorillas, and public engagement on H1N1 immunization program.

Links for this episode:

• Isolation of Marburg virus from Egyptian fruit bats
• Inspectors find bacterial citrus pathogen in California
• Parvovirus killing hundreds of dogs in Michigan
• Relenza-resistant H1N1 identified in Australia (press and journal article)
• New HIV from gorilla
• CDC wants public comment on H1N1 vaccination
• Original antigenic sin (article 1 and article 2)
• Dr. Stanley Plotkin on Meet the Scientist (thanks Peter!)
• audioBoo (iPhone app - thanks Jim!)
• Audio clips (first and second) from the podcast No Agenda (thanks peripatetic apoplectic!)

Weekly Science Picks

Jennifer Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD Comics)
Vincent Giant Microbes (thanks Stephen!)
Dick Virology in the 21st Century
Alan Annals of the Former World by John McPhee

Contact

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TWiV #44 (54 MB .mp3, 78 minutes)

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TWiV 43: Virus classification

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Created on Monday, 03 August 2009 17:44

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dick Despommier

Vincent and Dick explain virus classification, and revisit the 1976 swine flu immunization campaign and Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Links for this episode:

• International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)
• CBS 60 Minutes on 1976 swine flu vaccine (thanks Gus and Swiss compass!)
• Vaccines and Guillain-Barré
• NINDS Guillain-Barré Information
• Reflections on the 1976 swine flu vaccination program
• Swine influenza outbreak at Fort Dix, 1976

Weekly Science Picks

Dick Five Kingdoms: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth by Lynn Margulis and Karlene V. Schwartz
Vincent A Genetic Switch by Mark Ptashne

Contact

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TWiV #43 (32 MB .mp3, 46 minutes)

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TWiV 42: Bats and ticks

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Created on Tuesday, 28 July 2009 18:28

Written by Vincent Racaniello

HostsVincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, and Delthia Ricks

Vincent, Dick, Alan, and Delthia Ricks discuss a new influenza virus-like particle vaccine, dog flu, ultrasensitive pen-sized virus detector, imported rabies in the US, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and next season’s flu vaccines.

Links for this episode:

• Trivalent virus-like particle vaccine
• Canine flu virus vaccine
• Ultrasensitive virus detector
• Rabies imported into the US
• Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Kazakhstan
• FDA approves seasonal flu vaccine for fall
• Yields of 2009 H1N1 vaccine are low
• FDA may fast-track approval of 2009 H1N1 vaccine

Weekly Science Picks

Delthia 100 questions and answers about influenza by Delthia Ricks
Alan Tinychat
Dick Mythbusters
Vincent Effect Measure

Contact

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TWiV #42 (40 MB .mp3, 58 minutes)

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TWiV 41: Fish flu

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Created on Monday, 20 July 2009 15:49

Written by Vincent Racaniello

In episode 41 of "This Week in Virology", Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove and Rich Condit chat about infectious salmon anemia virus, virus-resistant grapevines, virulence of pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, origin of 1918 influenza virus, holy water ban to halt influenza, frequency of human WU and KI polyomavirus infection, rabies in China, and host species of sin nombre virus.

Links for this episode

• Wal-Mart stops buying Chile salmon on virus outbreak
• Virus-resistant grapevines
• Virulence of H1N1 pandemic influenza virus in animal models
• Did 1918 influenza virus originate in birds or not?
• Holy water ban to halt swine flu
• Frequent Human Infection with WU and KI Polyomaviruses
• Rabies in China
• Increased Host Species Diversity and Decreased Prevalence of Sin Nombre Virus
• Fast, cheap PCR for crime scenes (thanks Jim!)

Weekly Science Picks

Alan For Love of Insects by Thomas Eisner
Rich Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
Dick Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Vincent Gallileoscope (thanks Zach!)

Contact

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To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry.

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TWiV 40: Tamiflu in the water

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Created on Sunday, 12 July 2009 13:43

Written by Vincent Racaniello

In episode 40 of "This Week in Virology", hosts Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, and Alan Dove consider Reston ebolavirus in swine, historical perspective of H1N1 influenza virus emergence and circulation, Tamiflu-resistant H1N1, Tamiflu in Japanese river waters, transmission of H1N1 virus in ferrets, and pneumonia and respiratory failure from H1N1 in Mexico.

Links for this episode

• Reston ebolavirus in Philippine swine
• Historical perspective on H1N1 virus
• Salk's 1947 article on flu vaccine failure
• Persistent legacy of 1918 H1N1 virus
• Tamiflu resistant H1N1 virus (AP article)
• Tamiflu in Japanese river waters
• H1N1 infection of ferrets (article one and two)
• Pneumonia and respiratory failure from S-OIV in Mexico
• DNA-based equine WNV vaccine (thanks Peter!)
• Fundamentals of Molecular Virology by Nicholas Acheson

Weekly Science Picks

Alan Coming to Life by Christiane Nusslein-Volhard
Dick Monsters Inside Me from Discovery Channel
Vincent Microbeworld

Contact

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TWiV #40 (49 MB .mp3, 70 minutes)

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry.

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TWiV 39: Virus structure

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Created on Monday, 06 July 2009 17:50

Written by Vincent Racaniello

In episode 39 of This Week in Virology, hosts Vincent Racaniello and Dick Despommier discuss virus structure and answer listener questions.

Links for this episode

Weekly Science Picks

Dick Visual Explanations by Edward R. Tufte
Vincent The Youngest Science by Lewis Thomas

Contact

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TWiV #39 (37 MB .mp3, 53 minutes)

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry.

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TWiV 38: Measles

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Created on Monday, 29 June 2009 13:52

Written by Vincent Racaniello

In episode 38 of This Week in Virology, hosts Vincent Racaniello and Glenn Rall chat about koi herpesvirus, H1N1 influenza vaccine produced in insect cells, attack by a rabid raccoon, and measles.

Links for this episode:

• Virus suspected in carp die-off: koi herpesvirus
• H1N1 influenza vaccine produced in insect cells with baculovirus vectors
• Outbreak of measles in Wales
• Production of influenza vaccines in cell cultures: MDCK, Vero, PER.C6, EB66, insect (thanks Peter!)

Weekly Science Picks

Glenn Riddled with Life by Marlene Zuk
Vincent All the Virology on the WWW

Contact/Subscribe

Please send your virology questions and comments to twiv [at] twiv [dot] tv. To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to TWIV via iTunes, through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader, or by email.

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TWiV #38 (63 MB .mp3, 91 minutes)

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TWiV 37: Open Access

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Created on Monday, 22 June 2009 14:10

Written by Vincent Racaniello

In episode 37 of This Week in Virology, hosts Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove and guest Eric Freed talk about vesivirus contamination of bioreactors, pandemic influenza, maximizing the effect of vaccination by targeting children, chikungunya virus, and open access scientific journals.

Links for this episode:

• Genzyme shuts down manufacturing of two enzyme drugs because of vesivirus contamination
• Brazilian H1N1 isolate is not novel
• WHO interactive H1N1 map
• Targeting children maximizes the effect of vaccination
• Chikungunya virus and Aedes mosquitoes
• Viruses, an open-access virology journal
• iBioSeminars
• A field study of virus removal in septic tank drainfields

Weekly Science Picks

Alan Forrest Mims (website)
Vincent The Machinery of Life by David S. Goodsell

Contact/Subscribe

Please send your virology questions and comments to twiv [at] twiv [dot] tv. To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to TWIV via iTunes, through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader, or by email.

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TWiV #37 (51 MB .mp3, 74 minutes)

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