MicrobeWorld

The Small Things Considered blog has just started a three-part series on oomycetes, also known as water molds.

The first piece (published today) describes oomycete biology, the other two will focus on a particular oomycete: the late potato blight pathogen.

Here's a clip:

"As you know, ... Read More

Paul Ehrlich proposes that antibodies ... Read More

There are 1443 host viral interactions in the NCBI database. These were pumped through a KEGG pathway analsis, providing a useful insight into the multiple processes affected by HIV-1 infection. These include life cycle pathways , endocytosis and the like, but also many immune-related pathways a... Read More

Many virological techniques are based on the specificity of the antibody-antigen reaction. Examples in our virology toolbox include western blot analysis and ELISA. While very useful, these methods cannot be used to visualize viral proteins in infected cells or tissues. To do that we must turn t... Read More

Richard writes:

Hi Vincent,

Just listened to this weeks twiv, and the q dot dyes you mentioned are also used in electronics. There they are used as a ultra precise phosphor. In that application blue light from LEDs can be re-emitted as red, an... Read More

Alan Cann, senior lecturer at the University of Leicester, and colleagues Jo Badge, Stuart Johnson and Alex Moseley, have just published an article/paper on a small experiment involving student use of the microbloging service Twitter and its role in academia. Specifically, Cann and colleagues lo... Read More

Charlotte writes:

At the beginning of Twim #28 Michael articulated his love for math and around minute 12 his desire for "ground truthing" the number of times one touches their face. In response I o... Read More

Kurt writes:

Dear Vincent,

Sorry I missed your visit to NU- my teaching duties in Evanston prevented it!

Several of my students attended both and had good reports all around. Your work on ISGs sounds like it is coming along well.

I just today l... Read More

Multiple viruses have been linked to ME/CFS suggesting that multiple pathogens cause the same disease or several diseases with core signs and symptoms. Or if you are on Team XMRV /MuLV - a retrovirus could be the mastermind. No matter how you slice it in science, questions beget theories which... Read More

Contemporary human viruses most likely originated by cross-species transmission from non-human animals. Examples include HIV-1, which crossed from chimpanzees to humans, and SARS coronavirus, which originated in bats. Since the 1989 discovery of hepatitis C virus (classified as a hepacivirus in ... Read More

Maria writes:

Dear Dr. Dickson Despommier and Dr. Vincent Racaniello

I am a microbiologist. I studied in Colombia and after finishing my bachelor's I moved to New York city in 2007. All my life I have been fascinated about microorganisms. Some weeks ago I found an i... Read More

Ayesha writes:

Honourable TWIVnesses!

I heard this series and thought you might dig it for listener pick of the week: h... Read More

On episode #110 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, Rich, and Dickson discuss bacteria that can utilize arsenic in place of phosphorus, the passing of Frank Fenner, polio outbreak in The Cong... Read More

On episode #91 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, Alan, Rich and Welkin discuss the nature, origin, and evolution of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), and the recent finding of endogenous f... Read More

On episode #88 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Marc discuss using a virus for beetle control, RNA based gene therapy for AIDS, and reconstitution of a endogenous human retrovirus.

... Read More

High school students and their teachers participate in a simple activity to demonstrate the interaction between the var antigens malaria parasites display and the patient's immune system. Read More

3This episode: Slime molds farm their own bacterial food!

Read More

John D. Kraemer, JD, MPH, assistant professor of health systems administration at Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies, and Lawrence O. Gostin, the Linda D. and Timothy J. O’Neill Professor of Global Health Law and faculty director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Gl... Read More

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Read More

The World Health Organization has decided not to recommend destruction of the remaining stocks of smallpox virus. This debate has been ongoing since 1980, when the disease was declared eradicated. WHO has indicated that no new experiments on smallpox virus will be permitted, only conclusion of o... Read More