This Week in Virology

On episode #94 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich speak with Ila Singh about the new human retrovirus XMRV, and how her laboratory is studying its association with prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Ila Singh

• CFIDS Association of America
• Discovery of XMRV (PLoS Pathogens)
• Detection of XMRV in CFS patients (Science)
• Presence of XMRV in malignant prostate (PNAS)
• Inhibition of XMRV by raltegravir (PLoS One)
• Letters read on TWiV 94

Alan - The new Federal Register site (see also regulations.gov) Rich - The Florida Museum of Nautural History Butterfly Rainforest Vincent - JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments

On episode #93 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich answer listener questions about lab procedures, prokaryotes, endogenous retroviruses, the iPad and teaching, prions, mimivirus, splitting water with viruses, and the polio outbreak in Tajikistan.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

• Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)
• SIGA responds to BARDA request for smallpox antiviral
• BARDA contract for filovirus vaccine
• What is a Ph.D? (pdf)
• HHMI resources for early career scientists
• Pace article on abandoning prokaryote (Nature)
• Three domains of life (Forterre article)
• Mechanoenzymatic cleavage of Von Willebrand's factor (Science)
• Splitting water with viruses
• WHO coverage on Tajikstan polio outbreak
• Wild type polio infection in immunized Indian children (JID)
• Letters read on TWiV 93

Alan - Southern Fried Science Rich - Tree of Life web project Vincent - Dickson Despommier at Big Think

Vincent, Rich, Karla, and Marilyn recorded TWiV at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Virology in Bozeman, where they discussed plant viruses and how they make plants resistant to adverse conditions, and identification of dominant negative drug targets.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Karla Kirkegaard, and Marilyn Roosinck

• Lifestyles of plant viruses
• Using pyrosequencing to understand virus ecology
• A virus in a fungus in a plant
• Trans-dominant inhibition of RNA viral replication
• Resistance is futile
• Announcement of TWiV at ASV (pdf)
• Photographs of TWiV at ASV
• Letters read on TWiV 92

Marilyn - Viruses in the faecal microbiota of monozygotic twins and their mothers (Nature) Rich - The Known Universe by the American Museum of Natural History Vincent - The Red Queen by Matt Ridley (thanks, Jesper!)

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 filovirus genomes in mammals.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Welkin Johnson

• Welkin blogs at Small Things Considered
• Constructing primate phylogenies from ancient retrovirus sequences (PNAS)
• Filoviruses are ancient and integrated into mammalian genomes (BMC Evol Biol)
• Synthetic cells: Momentous breakthrough or ethical morass? (To The Point)
• Creation of a bacterial cell (Science)
• Comments on the synthetic cell (Small Things Considered)
• TWiV rap: T-Number Index by G-Unit (mp3) and Vincent (mp3) (thanks, Darrick and Scott!)
• Letters read on TWiV 91

Welkin - Advice for a Young Investigator by Santiago Ramon y Cajal Rich - How microbes define and defend us Dickson - H1N1 virus lacks 1918 virus killer protein Alan - The Xtal Set Society Vincent - Antibodies and the quest for an AIDS vaccine

On episode #90 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, Rich and Eric discuss identification of viruses in Northeastern American bats, vaccinia virus infection after sexual contact with a military vaccinee, and identification of a new flavivirus from an Old World bat in Bangladesh.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Eric F. Donaldson

• Vaccinia virus infection after sexual contact with vaccinee
• Smallpox vaccination overview
• Smallpox vaccine lesions (jpg)
• Smallpox hospital, Roosevelt Island, NY (photo 1, photo 2)
• Isolation of a flavivirus from bats in Bangladesh (PLoS Pathogens)
• Review on hepatitis G virus
• Dickson has been teaching at Singularity University and fishing in Bozeman MT (jpg)
• Letters read on TWiV 90

Eric - Year of Darwin by Sean Carroll Rich - March of the Penguins Alan - Standing-height desks Vincent - DengueWatch (thanks Richard!)

On episode #89 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Alan review recent findings on the association of the retrovirus XMRV with ME/CFS, reassortment of 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus in swine, and where influenza viruses travel in the off-season.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Alan Dove

• Conflicting XMRV papers on hold
• Leak of PNAS paper
• CDC study on XMRV in CFS patients (Retrovirology) and Science update
• Where influenza viruses travel in the off season (EurekaAlert! and PLoS Pathogens)
• NPR article on Ebola siRNA treatment (thanks, Andreas!)
• Priming mechanism for reovirus entry (thanks, Agyeman-Badu!)
• Wired article on science PR (thanks, Dan!)
• Letters read on TWiV 89

Alan - Tree of Life graphic Vincent - TEDx Oil Spill

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.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Marc Pelletier

• Controlling the palm rhinoceros beetle with a virus
• The virologist in the Hawaiian shirt
• Information on Orcytes rhinocerus nudivirus (one, two, three)
• RNA based gene therapy for AIDS
• Reconstitution of an infectious human retrovirus (PLoS Pathogens)
• Letters read on TWiV 88

Marc - Apple iPad as a tool for writing, with Papers, Pages, and GoodReader Alan - The Bacterium and the Bacteriophage Vincent - Naturally Obsessed (thanks, Sharon!)

On episode #87 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich hear from Professor Graham Hatfull how students in the Phage Hunters Integrating Research and Education (PHIRE) program learn about scientific inquiry by doing research on bacteriophages.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Alan Dove, and Graham Hatfull

• Bacteriophage Research: Gateway to learning science
• Mycobacterium smegmatis at NCBI
• Prof. Steve Cresawn
• Scientist infected with computer virus (thanks, Jason!)
• The Invisible ABCs
• Letters read on TWiV 87

Rich - CDC Public Health Image LibraryVincent - March of the Microbes by John L. IngrahamAlan – Great Microbiologists – A Lego MovieGraham – Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas by Forest Rohwer

On episode #86 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Rich travel to the Blood Systems Research Institute in San Francisco to speak with Eric Delwart about his work on virus discovery.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Eric Delwart

• List of Dr. Delwart's open-access journal articles (pdf) - to find each one, type PMID # into PubMed
• CDC says don't give rotavirus vaccines to infants with SCID
• The Brighton Collaboration
• Product sheet for RotaTeq (pdf - thanks, Sheldon!)
• Letters read on TWiV 86

Rich - Google Crisis Response - Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Vincent - HHMI resources for teachers and students (thanks, Jim!) Eric - Vaccine by Arthur Allen

On episode #85 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Michael Gale discuss the origin, pathogenesis, prevention, of hepatitis C virus, and how it evades innate immune responses.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Michael Gale

• The Gale Laboratory at the University of Washington
• Incredible view from the Gale laboratory (jpg)
• Evasion and disruption of innate immune signalling by hepatitis C and West Nile viruses (review)
• New potent HCV inhibitor
• HCV virion and genome structures at ViralZone

On episode #84 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Rich spoke with Dave Bloom and Grant McFadden about their work on herpesviruses and poxviruses in this episode recorded before an audience at the University of Florida, Gainesville - home of the Gators.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Dave Bloom, and Grant McFadden

• Epigenetic modulation of herpes simplex virus gene expression (thanks, Matthew!)
• The Red Queen and Tierra virtual environment: article one, two, three (thanks, Jesper!)
• Hand-held HIV detector (thanks, Jim!)
• Anti-angiogenic cancer therapy combined with oncolytic virotherapy (thanks, Bill!)
• TWiV at UF Gainesville (jpg)
• Letters read on TWiV 84

Rich - Charles F. Littlewood photographs Vincent - Not so humble pie (thanks, Sophie!) Grant - The Strangest Man by Graham Farmelo David - Is Parkinson's Disease a prion disorder?

On episode #83 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, Rich, and special guest Dr. Kirsten Sanford talk about her career in science media, then consider whether smallpox eradication led to the AIDS pandemic, high fidelity RNA synthesis, and a new Ebola virus vaccine.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kirsten Sanford

• Does smallpox vaccine protect against HIV? (thanks, Srinivas; Washington Post and BMC Immunology)
• Was the deltaCRR5 mutation fixed in the human population by smallpox?
• A proofreader in the SARS coronavirus genome
• New ebola vaccine protects monkeys
• House of Numbers trailer, website, Wikipedia article (thanks, Levi!)
• Letters read on TWiV 83

Alan - Evernote Rich - The Knife Man by Wendy Moore Vincent - The Pump Handle

On episode #82 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Rich talk about how thymic selection of T cells might lead to better control of HIV-1 infection, and a mouse model for severe antibody-induced dengue virus disease.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Rich Condit

• Effect of thymic selection of T-cells on control of AIDS
• Mouse model of antibody-induced severe dengue virus disease
• Natural antibody protects against viral infection
• Kary Mullis idea for fighting infections (thanks, Erik!)
• 40 nm resolution of fluorescence photoactivation localization microscopy (thanks, José)
• Letters read on TWiV 82

Rich The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle by Eric Lax Vincent Proteopedia (thanks, Erik!)

On episode #81 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Rich answer listener questions on viruses and gluten allergy, RNA silencing, influenza virus, herpes simplex virus, HIV/AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, manicure salons, and the koala tea of Marseilles.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Rich Condit

• Virus infections and gluten intolerance on TWiS (thanks Jesper!)
• Viral small RNAs in PLoS Pathogens (thanks Jason!)
• Canadian Summit Awards (thanks Jim!)
• Experimenting with phage at home (thanks Richard!)
• CRISPR discovered by a dairy company (thanks Joel!)
• Expedition to New Guinea to sample bird viruses - movie and blog entry (thanks Henrik!)
• Preventing herpes with arginine and lysine - pdf (thanks Anthony!)
• Chronic fatigue donors face rejection (thanks James!)
• The Koala tea of Marseilles is not strained (thanks Stephen!)
• The other Larson virus cartoon (jpg)
• Letters read on TWiV 81

Rich Google Chrome browser 'speed test' (and how it was made) Vincent Inside the Outbreaks by Mark Pendergrast

On episode #80 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich speak with Michael Bouchard about hepatitis B virus discovery, replication, and pathogenesis.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Michael Bouchard

• The enigmatic X gene of hepatitis B virus
• Tableau public (thanks Ricardo!)
• Molecular phylogeny of Archaea from soil (thanks Etienne!)
• Habitats of Archaea (thanks Cedric!)
• Timer remote controls (thanks Bill!)
• Letters read in episode 80

Rich PBS Frontline: The Vaccine War Alan Readability Vincent Starswarm by Jerry Pournelle

On episode #79 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Alan converse about making published science accessible to everyone, global eradication of poliomyelitis, and whether a plant virus can cause disease in humans.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Alan Dove

• Making published science accessible to everyone (Nature News)
• Federal Research Public Access Act
• Is disease eradication a waste of money?
• Do we have an ethical obligation to eradicate polio?
• Signs of progress in polio eradication (NY Times)
• Polio eradication: Harder than it looks (Fortner)
• Gates rethinks his war on polio (WSJ)
• Asymptomatic wild-type poliovirus infection in immune children (J Inf Dis)
• Can a plant virus cause disease in humans? (PLoS One)
• Replication of tomato spotted wilt virus in HeLa cells (PNAS)
• Glycine detected in comet (thanks Vincent!)
• Letters read on TWiV 79

Alan Data.govVincent foldit

On episode #78 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, Dickson, and Rich talk about treating arthritis with a tanapox virus protein, Darwinian evolution of prions in cell culture, and the connection between cold weather fronts and outbreaks of avian H5N1 influenza in Europe.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Dickson Despommier, and Rich Condit

• Treating arthritis with a tanapox virus protein that antagonizes TNF (press release and research article)
• Darwinian evolution of prions in cell culture (abstract)
• Simple diagram of prion propagation (Wikipedia)
• Thoughts on the pursuit of success in science by Charles Weissmann
• Cold fronts linked to European H5N1 outbreaks (PLoS Pathogens)
• Simon Singh's website and letter of support (thanks, Mary!)
• The importance of stupidity in scientific research (thanks, Mary!)
• Sustainable energy - without the hot air (thanks, Bernhard!)
• World Community Grid (thanks Dave!)
• Pre-order The Vertical Farm by Dickson Despommier
• Letters read on TWiV 78

Dickson Medical News Today: Infectious Diseases and Eaarth by Bill McKibben Rich U can with Beakman and Jax by Jok Church Alan UnderwaterTimes Vincent The Reef Tank

On episode #77 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich revisit circovirus contamination of Rotarix, then discuss poxvirus-like replication of mimivirus in the cell cytoplasm, and whether seasonal influenza immunization increases the risk of infection with the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

• Contamination of Rotarix vaccine with porcine circovirus 1 DNA
• Do you want to know what is in your vaccines? Take the poll
• Mimivirus replicates in the cell cytoplasm like poxviruses
• mRNA capping and virus evolution
• Association between the 2008-09 seasonal influenza vaccine and pandemic H1N1 illness (commentary)
• Doane paper goes viral
• Energetics of genome ejection from bacteriophage (thanks Gary!)
• Five strategies for behavioral adaptation to pathogens and parasites (excerpt; thanks Wladimir!)
• Letters read on TWiV 77

Rich The Way We Work by David Macaulay Alan DimDim Vincent Polio: An American Story by David Oshinsky

On episode #76 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent speaks with Stephen Goff about the origin of the retrovirus XMRV and its association with prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Stephen Goff

• Discovery of XMRV in prostate tumors
• Association of XMRV with chronic fatigue syndrome
• Enhanced infection of prostate cells by XMRV
• XMRV and xenotransplantation

On episode #75 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Matt review contamination of Rotarix with circovirus DNA, antigenic similarity between 1918 and 2009 H1N1 influenza, a collection of rabies reports, and chicken pox mistaken for smallpox in Uganda.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Matthew Frieman

• Contamination of Rotarix vaccine with porcine circovirus 1 DNA
• Beak and feather disease circovirus (BFDV) threatens parrots
• Antigenic similarity between 1918 and 2009 H1N1 influenza
• Presumptive abortive human rabies in Texas
• Rabies rampant: feline, immunization change, Indonesia, wolf, Texas bat, US equine (thanks, Lenn!)
• Austin free tailed bats emerging at dusk
• Suspected smallpox in Uganda
• T-cell receptor therapy for AIDS (thanks Dorian!)

Matt Bitesize BioAlan Free printable graph paper (see also doane paper)Vincent Avian Flu Diary

On episode #74 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent speaks with Adolfo Garcia-Sastre about the origin, pathogenesis, and prevention of the 2009 pandemic influenza H1N1 virus.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Adolfo Garcia-Sastre

• Influenza virus receptor specificity and disease
• PB1-F2 expression by 2009 H1N1 strain does not increase virulence
• Protection against 2009 H1N1 infection by immunization with older strains
• Passage in eggs changes influenza receptor specificity
• Association between D222G mutation and virulence

On episode #73 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, and Rich discuss multipotent progenitor bone marrow cells as a reservoir of HIV-1, integration of HHV-6 into telomeres, and dispersal of West Nile virus across the US by mosquitoes.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Rich Condit

• HIV-1 infects multipotent progenitor cells
• HHV-6 genome integrates into telomeres
• A role for mosquito-mediated dispersal of West Nile virus across the US
• Using tobacco mosaic virus to produce synthetic photovoltaic cells (thanks Nissin!)
• Animation of HIV replication cycle (thanks Ilya!)
• Can computer viruses evolve? (thanks Norman!)
• Mumps outbreak in Israel (one and two) (thanks Ariel!)
• Bocavirus infections in children (thanks Tyler!)

Dickson Whole-Genome Sequencing in a Patient with Charcot–Marie–Tooth Neuropathy (NEJM and NY Times) Rich Invisible Frontiers: The Race to Synthesize a Human Gene by Stephen Hall Vincent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections - videocasts

On episode #72 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, Alan and Rich explain CRISPR/Cas, the immune system of bacteria and archaea, how novel viruses are discovered by deep sequencing of small RNAs, and the relationship between dry weather and outbreaks of West Nile virus infection.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

• Review on the CRISPR/cas system of bacteria and archaea
• Virus discovery by sequencing small virus-derived RNAs (paper one and two)
• Dry weather induces outbreaks of West Nile virus infection (paper and comment form)
• Vaccine needle size matters
• Participate in the Personal Genome Project

Dickson Scientist as Chef by Dickson Despommier (pdf) Alan Networked Organisms and Habitats (NOAH) iPhone app Rich Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat Vincent The Dish

On episode #71 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, Alan and Rich answer listener questions about maternal infection and fetal injury, viral gene therapy, eyeglasses and influenza, filtering prions from blood, eradication of rinderpest, Tamiflu resistance of H1N1 influenza, bacteriophages and the human microbiome, H1N1 vaccine recalls, human tumor viruses, RNA interference, and junk DNA.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

• Maternal infection and fetal neurological injury
• Filtering prions from blood (prion capture technology)
• Eradication of rinderpest (Merck veterinary manual)
• Podcasts from Life in the Universe course
• Immune Attack video game
• H1N1 review article and Holmes on genetic hijacking
• Podcast on Merck vaccines
• Ft. Lee NJ snowed in (jpg)

Dickson and Alan NSF/AAAS Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge Rich Foundation by Issac Asimov Vincent Natural Obsessions by Natalie Angier

On episode #70 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, and Alan consider a broad spectrum antiviral against enveloped viruses, how a plant virus induces chemical signals in the host to maximize its spread, a new way to preserve viral vaccines at tropical temperatures, and the continuing story of XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Alan Dove

• Broad spectrum antiviral against enveloped viruses
• Chemical signals induced by a plant virus attract insect vectors to inferior hosts
• New vaccine technology to make viral vaccines stable at tropical temperatures
• Second UK study fails to find XMRV in chronic fatigue syndrome patients (pdf)
• Nature podcast with Simon Singh and petition (thanks André!)
• Letter on Wolbachia and bees (thanks Tom!)
• Dickson fishing in Argentina (jpg)

Dickson Chemical Ecology - edited by Thomas Eisner and Jerrold MeinwaldAlan Scripps Center for Mass Spectrometry Vincent Folding@home (thanks Jesper!)

On episode #69 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich review recent outbreaks of mumps in the UK, US, and Israel, protection of mice against 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus by 1918-like and classical swine H1N1 vaccines, and a virus-like particle vaccine for chikungunya virus.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

• Mumps outbreak in Israel (ProMedMail and Eurosurveillance; thanks Lenn!) and Iowa
• Retraction of Wakefield vaccines- autism study
• Immunization with 1918-like and classical swine H1N1 influenza viruses protects against 2009 H1N1 strain
• Virus-like particle vaccine for chikungunya virus
• Image: antigenic differences in HA structures of 1918, Cal/09 and Bris/59/07 viruses
• Paul Ewald articles (thanks Atila!): one, two, and three, and a recent review of the hypothesis

Rich John Moran Florida Nature PhotographyAlan Periodic Table of Videos Vincent The Protein Databank Educational Resources

On episode #68 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich are enthralled by movies of vaccinia virus plaque formation, then consider how repulsion of superinfection virions leads to rapid virus spread, and a therapeutic prostate cancer vaccine.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

• Rapid virus spread by repulsion of superinfection virions
• Movie of vaccinia virus plaque formation (.mov)
• Movie of GFP-vaccinia virus plaque formation (.mov)
• More amazing vaccinia virus movies
• Prostate cancer vaccine (Reuters article, original research)

Rich Foundations of Virology - PowerPoint by Frederick A. Murphy (bio/interview pdf)Alan Spoonful of Medicine - Nature Medicine blog Vincent The Feynman Lectures (thanks Ilya!)

On episode #67 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Marc Pelletier talk about chronic wasting disease of deer caused by prions, blocking the semen-derived enhancer of HIV infection with surfen, and making green transgenic rabbits using a lentiviral vector.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Marc Pelletier

• Chronic wasting disease in West Virginia
• Chronic wasting disease alliance and CDC webpage
• Semen-derived inhibitor of viral infection (SEVI)
• Surfen inhibits the action of SEVI
• Making green transgenic rabbits using simian immunodeficiency virus vector
• Science comedy (thanks Lucky Fractal!)

Marc Association of Science-Technology Centers Passport ProgramAlan ZooniverseVincent Grand Rounds at the Mailman School of Public Health

On episode #66 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Dickson continue virology 101 with a discussion of information flow from RNA to DNA, a process known as reverse transcription, which occurs in cells infected with retroviruses, hepatitis B virus, cauliflower mosaic virus, foamy viruses, and even in uninfected cells.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Discovery of RNA tumor viruses
• Reverse transcriptase found by Temin and Baltimore (pdfs)
• Figures for this episode

On episode #65 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Matthew Frieman Vincent, Alan, and Matt discuss a project to study the RNA virome of Northeastern American bats, failure to detect XMRV in UK chronic fatigue syndrome patients, and DNA of bornavirus, an RNA virus, in mammalian genomes.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Matthew Frieman

• Mist net Indigo Tunnel, Western Maryland Railway (jpg)
• Eric Donaldson and Amy Haskew with bat in holding bag (jpg)
• XMRV not detected in UK chronic fatigue syndrome patients (virology blog)
• Bornavirus DNA in the mammalian genome
• Arenavirus DNA can be integrated into the cell genome
• Rabid raccoons in Central Park, NYC

On episode #64 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich discuss ten compelling virology stories of 2009.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

1. Pandemic influenza: Swine-origin H1N1 virus (TWiV 36)
2. XMRV, prostate cancer, and chronic fatigue syndrome (TWiV 50, 55)
3. AIDS vaccine 'success' (TWiV 51)
4. Colony collapse disorder (TWiV 46, 49)
5. AIDS-like disease in wild chimps (TWiV 45)
6. Diverse viral community in Antarctic lake (TWiV 58)
7. Polyomavirus seroepidemiology in humans (TWiV 26)
8. Poxvirus threatens UK red squirrels (TWiV 63)
9. Polio spreads from Nigeria (TWiV 29)
10. How mosquitoes survive Dengue virus infection (TWiV 21)

Picture book on viruses for kids (Thanks Soraia!)

On episode #63 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich talk about US government contract for freeze-dried smallpox vaccine, red squirrels in the UK threatened by poxvirus, and Marseillevirus, another DNA virus from amoebae built for comfort and speed.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

• US Government awards contract to Bavarian Nordic for freeze-dried smallpox vaccine (pdf and clinical trial)
• UK red squirrels threatened by poxvirus: news article one and two,epidemiologyand experimental infection
• Another huge virus from amoebae (Wired article, PNASarticle, review article)
• Discussion on rabies bait vaccine at virology blog, and status of the program
• Viral diseases of humans (pdf)

On episode #62 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, and Alan discuss STEP HIV-1 vaccine failure caused by the adenovirus vector, presence of West Nile virus in kidneys for years after initial infection, adaptation of the influenza viral RNA polymerase for replication in human cells, and the significance of the D225G change in the influenza HA protein.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Alan Dove

• HIV vaccine failure probably caused by adenovirus vector used
• Persistence of West Nile virus in kidneys for years (JID and ProMedMail) (thanks, Lenn!)
• Adaptive strategies of influenza RNA polymerase for replication in humans
• New CDC estimates of 2009 H1N1 infection in US
• Receptor binding specificity of 2009 H1N1 virus
• Distribution of sialic acids in human respiratory tract

On episode 61 of the podcast "This Week in Virology", Vincent and Dick muse about the symbiotic bacterium,Wolbachia, that protects flies from viral infection, the origin of 2009 influenza H1N1 virus, and the lure of original antigenic sin.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Variation in antiviral protection mediated by different Wolbachia strains in Drosophila simulans
• Wolbachia induces resistance to RNA virus infections in Drosophila
• Wolbachia reduces blood-feeding success in Dengue mosquito
• Did 2009 H1N1 influenza come from a laboratory?
• Influenza original antigenic sin in mice but not in humans
• Dengue outbreak in Mexico (thanks Swiss compass!)
• Pig at Minnesota state fair infected with 2009 H1N1 (thanks Swiss compass!)
• Baby kissing pig (jpg) (thanks Swiss compass!)

Vincent and Dickson continue Virology 101 with a discussion of how RNA viruses produce mRNA and replicate their genomes.

Host links Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Diagrams of viral RNA synthesis
• Animations of influenza virus and HIV-1 replication

A TWiV panel of five considers the finding of Streptococcus pneumoniae in fatal H1N1 cases in Argentina, hysteria in the Ukraine over pandemic influenza, and human vaccinia infection after contact with a raccoon rabies vaccine bait.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, Gustavo Palacios, and Mady Hornig

Links for this episode:

• Argentine flu death mystery
• H1N1 influenza outbreak in Ukraine (article one and two, and WHO statement)
• Human vaccinia infection after contact with rabies vaccine bait
• Agrippal S1 inactivated H1N1 vaccine (pdf - thanks Ariel and Ayelet)
• Nick's letter on are viruses and life
• Take the poll: are viruses alive?

Vincent, Dick, and Alan are joined by emergency medicine physician Dr. Joshua Stillman to talk about passive antibody therapy for Nipah infection in ferrets, annual influenza immunization of children, facemasks to prevent influenza, predicting dengue outbreaks by the weather, and the amazing viral communities in an icy Antarctic lake.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, and Joshua Stillman

Links for this episode:

• Post-exposure passive antibody therapy for Nipah virus in ferret
• Image above left shows Nipah viral antigen (red) in ferret brain ependymal epithelium
• Is yearly influenza vaccination of children a bad idea?
• Debate on N95 masks vs surgical masks to prevent influenza
• Weather patterns help predict dengue outbreaks
• Diverse viral community in Antarctica's icy lakes (thanks Russ!)
• Tamiflu in Japanese river waters (see TWiV 40 - thanks Russ!)
• Chlorine dioxide gas removes influenza virus (thanks André!)

Vincent visits Scotch Plains – Fanwood High School and talks about viruses with high school biology students.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello

Links for this episode:

• Vincent’s presentation (pdf)
• Thank you letters
• Oncolytic reovirus
• Does rhinovirus interfere with influenza?

Vincent, Dick, Alan, and Cliff answer questions from listeners on swine influenza origins, transmission, virulence, and vaccines, HIV and AIDS, and more.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, and Cliff Mintz

Links for this episode:

• Physicists propose 'Schrödinger's Virus' experiment (thanks Duncan)
• Nanoparticle adjuvant (ScienceDaily and Journal of Controlled Release - thanks Jim)
• Hand washing won't stop H1N1 at Newsweek (thanks Jim)
• Newsweek's virus quiz
• TWiV timeline (download .m4v file - thanks Ricardo)
• Sanjay Gupta's H1N1 experience (thanks Lenn)
• Swine flu vaccine fear mongering at eSkeptic (thanks Jesper)
• Flu transmission and humidity (letter from Joe)

Dick 27" iMac and Powers of Ten by Philip Morrison and Phyllis MorrisonAlan ImageMagickCliff ePatient Connections 2009Vincent Cell size and scale

The largest TWiV panel ever assembled takes on XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome, 2009 chemistry Nobel prizes for ribosome structure, finding new poxvirus vaccine candidates, a brouhaha over leaked Canadian data on flu susceptibility, and transmission of H1N1 influenza to a pet ferret.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, Jason Rodriguez, and Rich Condit

• XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome
• XMRV not found in German prostate cancer
• 2009 Chemistry Nobel Prize for ribosome structure
• New poxvirus vaccines (e! Science and Virology articles - thanks Jim!)
• Seasonal flu shots and susceptibility to 2009 H1N1 (one, two, and three)
• Pet ferret gets H1N1 influenza from owner

Dick Nikon photomicroscopy contest winners at SciAm (Dick's article on vertical farming)Alan Make:Rich BBC's Planet Earth (DVD at Amazon)Jason The Collider, the Particle and a Theory About FateVincent An Epidemic of Fear and Misinformants at Wired Magazine

Vincent speaks with Lynn Enquist about his career in virology, moving from academia to industry and back. Along the way he did pioneering research on bacteriophage, participated in the birth of recombinant DNA technology, and studied herpesviruses.

Links for this episode:

• Holliday junction
• Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA
• Restriction enzymes
• Movies of herpesvirus movement in nerve cells
• The 'other' Enquist lab
• Can you find the TWiV 54 hosts in this photo?

Lynn Francis Crick: Hunter of Life's Secrets by Robert OlbyVincent ViralZone

Vincent, Dick, and Alan talk about Nobel prizes for telomere research, bacteriophages that protect aphids from wasps, salicylates and pandemic influenza mortality, and hand washing.

• Bacteriophages encode toxins that protect aphids from wasps
• 14 year old dies after receiving HPV vaccine
• Salicylates and pandemic influenza mortality
• Canadian microbiologist says hand washing is not proven to prevent influenza
• Surgical mask vs N95 respirator for preventing influenza
• Americans unsure about receiving pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccine
• DnaTube (thanks Jim!)
• Laboratory Director certification (pdf - thanks Megan!)
• Plant production of pharmaceuticals (pdf one and pdf two - thanks Ed!)

Alan sciencelineDick Younger by Judith Sulzberger MDVincent FluView

Vincent and Dr. Scott Hammer talk about different types of AIDS vaccines and how they are tested in clinical trials.

• PAVE 100 trial cancelled
• HIV vaccine shows promise for the first time
• Description of the Thailand AIDS program
• NEJM review on why AIDS vaccine is difficult (pdf)
• Arguments for the AIDS vaccine trial in Thailand
• International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)

Vincent, Dick, and Alan (with a cameo appearance by Rich Condit) review the world’s largest Phase III study of a complex HIV vaccine candidate in Thailand, immunization of salmon against infectious salmon anemia virus, and an outbreak of blueberry shock virus in Michigan.

• HIV vaccine shows promise for the first time - description of the program, FDA background document (pdf), NEJM review on why AIDS vaccine is difficult (pdf), and arguments for the trial
• Chile immunizes salmon (USGS article on the virus, pdf)
• Blueberry virus strikes Michigan research center (information on the disease and the virus)
• Rotavirus seasonality (thanks Didier!)
• Viruses and the tree of life at virology blog
• Big brains have evolved twice (thanks Arsen!)

Alan Bat Rabies and Other Lyssavirus InfectionsDick Boosting Vaccines: The Power of Adjuvants (Scientific American; subscription required)Vincent The Ig Nobel Prizes by Marc Abrahams

Vincent and Jason review influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine trials and protection against the virus conferred by the 1976 swine flu vaccine, then move on to a virus called XMRV and its possible role in prostate cancer.

• One dose of influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine without adjuvant is enough
• Partially completed study on influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine with MF59 adjuvant
• 1976 swine flu vaccine induces cross-reactive antibodies against influenza 2009 H1N1 strain
• Explanation of hemagglutination-inhibition and microneutralization assays
• FDA approves influenza 2009 H1N1 vaccine
• XMRV is present in malignant prostatic epithelium and is associated with prostate cancer
• Identification of a novel gammaretrovirus in prostate tumors
• CDC page on Guillain-Barré syndrome

Jason Glass MicrobiologyVincent FluWeb Influenza Historical Resources Database

Vincent and Dick continue Virology 101 with a discussion of the seven different types of viral genomes, and how to use the pathway to mRNA to understand viral replication.

Links for this episode:

• Dick talks about hookworm on Radio Lab
• Dick's video page at BigThink
• The seven types of viral genome
• Animation of HIV replication (thanks axiomatically atypical!)
• Changes in transcript abundance relating to colony collapse disorder in honey bee (thanks Judi!)

Dick Discovery Channel: Planet GreenVincent Influenza videos at BigThink: one, two, three, four, five, six

Vincent, Dick, Alan and Rich revisit a vaccinia virus lab accident and viral vaccines produced in plants, then talk about an iPhone app to track infectious diseases, flying foxes, and an inhaled measles vaccine.

• Laboratory acquired vaccinia infection
• Medicago (investor presentation, pdf) and Fraunhofer produce vaccines in plants
• iPhone app Outbreaks near me
• No culling of flying foxes in Australia
• Inhaled powdered measles virus vaccine
• Herpesvirus latency confers symbiotic protection from bacterial infection (thanks Juliet!)
• Porcine circovirus vaccine
• Swine flu vaccine and Guillain-Barré (thanks Tom!)
• The Great Flu and blog post (thanks Swiss compass and Allison!)
• Building semiconductors with DNA (thanks Duncan!)
• Email on viral classification (thanks Rodney and Eliot!)

Rich Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel GilbertDick Eliot Porter at the Carter Museum and bookstore at AmazonAlan Dr. Clarke's H1N1 rap at the HHS sponsored YouTube contestVincent Coast to Coast Bio Podcast

Vincent and Dick discuss influenza virus-like particle vaccines produced in insect and plant cells, rapid sharing of influenza research, and answer listener questions about cytomegalovirus, viral evolution and symbiosis and much more.

• A Farm on Every Floor
• Influenza virus-like particles in insect and plant cells
• PLoS Currents: Influenza
• Transmission of 2009 H1N1 influenza virus to turkeys [Thanks Debbie!]
• Baxter produces Vero cell H1N1 vaccine [Thanks Peter!]
• Boundaries of Darwinism podcast [Thanks David!]
• Phages in human intestine: papers one, two, three [Thanks Terry!]
• Post-exposure varicella vaccine [Thanks Patricia!]
• Open science movement here, here, here, and here [Thanks Jim!]
• Graduate programs in virology [Thanks Greggory and Blake!]
• Post-exposure Marburg and Ebola vaccines [Thanks John!]
• Vaccinia infection in the laboratory [Thanks Russ!]
• Animations of bacteriophage T4 life cycle [Thanks Jim!]

Vincent BionumbersDick Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas by Sylvia A. Earle, Linda K. Glover

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.

• 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!)

Vincent PLoS PearlsDick West Nile virus website at CDC

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.

• 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

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