This Week in Virology

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 Links for this episode: 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 Weekly science picks: 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 Links for this episode: 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 Weekly science picks: 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 Links for this episode: 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 Weekly science picks: 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 Links for this episode: 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 Weekly science picks: 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 Links for this episode: 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 Links for this episode: 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 Weekly science picks: 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 Links for this episode: 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 Weekly science picks: 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 Links for this episode: 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 Weekly science picks: 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 Links for this episode: 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 Weekly science picks: 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 Links for this episode: 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 Weekly science picks: Rich PBS Frontline: The Vaccine War Alan Readability Vincent Starswarm by Jerry Pournelle