Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Alan Dove
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.
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Download TWiV #70 (56 MB .mp3, 77 minutes)
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Links for this episode:
- 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)
Weekly Science Picks
Dickson Chemical Ecology – edited by Thomas Eisner and Jerrold Meinwald
Alan Scripps Center for Mass Spectrometry
Vincent Folding@home (thanks Jesper!)
Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv or leave voicemail at Skype: twivpodcast. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Regarding changing behavior of host by viruses, at least at cell level, analogy can be found in 'superinfection interference', which is a phenomena found in many viruses including retroviruses. Superinfection interference refers to a process, where cells that are infected by virus become resistant to subsequent infection by the same virus.
Regarding altering aphid behavior by infection of a plant:
Isn't rabies virus a virus that alters the behavior of its host to facilitate transmission?
An increase in aggression coupled with copious salivation aids the transmission of the virus by bites.
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