TWiV 70: Hacking aphid behavior

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.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc. Use the promotion code VINCENT to receive $50 off a Drobo or $100 off a Drobo S.

Win a free Drobo S! Contest rules here.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to 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.

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Tagged as: antiviral, aphid, cfs, chronic fatigue syndrome, enveloped virus, influenza, plant virus, podcast, TWiV, vaccine, viral, viral host, virology, virus, XMRV