About
This Week in Virology (TWiV) is a podcast – or netcast, as some prefer to call them, since you don’t need an iPod to listen – about viruses. It was begun in September 2008 by Vincent Racaniello and Dick Despommier, two science Professors at Columbia University Medical Center. Their goal was to have an informal yet informative conversation about viruses which would be accessible to everyone, no matter what their science background. We wanted to eventually bring other virologists into the conversation, to make it more varied and interesting. Alan Dove, a science writer, joined us late in 2008, and Rich Condit, a poxvirologist, joined in 2009. We’ve had a number of guests on the show and we’re always trying to get more.
Why are we doing this? Dick and I have spent our entire academic careers directing research laboratories, so we have a lot of knowledge to share. Plus, we both enjoy teaching. Put those two things together, and you have TWiV. If you want to learn about viruses in a relaxing way, then TWiV is for you.
Here is a bit more information about the hosts of TWiV. If you have any questions – we love them – send them to twiv@twiv.tv.
Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D. (@profvrr; at left in the photo) is Professor of Microbiology at Columbia University Medical Center. He has been studying viruses for over 30 years, starting in 1975, when he entered the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Sciences at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York. His thesis research, in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Palese, was focussed on influenza viruses. In 1979 he joined the laboratory of Dr. David Baltimore at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for postdoctoral work on poliovirus. In 1982 Vincent joined the faculty in the Department of Microbiology at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York City. There he established a laboratory to study viruses, and to train other scientists to become virologists. Over the years his laboratory has studied a variety of viruses including poliovirus, echovirus, enterovirus 70, rhinovirus, and hepatitis C virus. As principal investigator of his laboratory, he oversees the research that is carried out by Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows. He also teaches virology to graduate students, as well as medical, dental, and nursing students.
If you would like to learn about his work on viruses in more detail, please visit his website at Columbia University. To learn something new about viruses every day, check out Vincent’s virology blog. His Wikipedia page provides a different view of his work. You might also like to follow Vincent on Twitter or FriendFeed, where he often provides links to interesting stories about viruses. And there’s always Facebook.
Dickson D. Despommier, Ph.D. (at right in the photo) is Professor Emeritus of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences and Microbiology at Columbia University Medical Center. He is a microbiologist/ecologist by training, and for 27 years conducted laboratory-based research on molecular aspects of intracellular parasitism. Dick also teaches Parasitic Diseases, Medical Ecology, and Ecology 101. These courses deal with parasitism and its effects on large segments of the poor that live in the tropics. Controlling soil-based transmission cycles of helminthes that cause significant health problems throughout the world is of prime importance to Dick. Since it is generally agreed agriculture is solely responsible for so much environmental disturbance and serves as the interface for the transmission of geohelminths, one area of his focus has been on how to raise food without further encroachment into natural ecosystems. He established The Vertical Farm as a theoretical construct to look at the possibility of agricultural sustainability within cities. Sustainable urban life is now a major interest of Dick’s. Inventing new approaches to the raising of food within the confines of a large urban center is bound to be fraught with hidden pitfalls and caveats when starting out, particularly those of a technical and economic nature. However, he firmly believes that with enough input from multiple disciplines (e.g., industrial and soil microbiology, engineering, public health, policy making, urban planning, architecture, agronomy, plant genetics, economics), vertical farming could become a reality and thus replace most of what now passes for agriculture in many parts of the developed and under-developed world. If this were to come about, large tracts of land could then be returned to nature to do what it was supposed to do for us before we eliminated the hardwood forests of the eastern states. Restoring ecosystem services and functions is what Dick envisions as the charge to the next generation of public health professionals.
Alan Dove, Ph.D. grew up near the small waterfront city of Annapolis, Maryland, and spent an inordinate amount of his childhood on and around boats. Fortunately, he also developed interests that offered genuine employment opportunities, including biology, chemistry, public policy, writing, computers, and electronics. After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Towson State University in Baltimore County, he pursued – and with considerable effort, got – a Ph.D. in microbiology from Columbia University in New York City.
In 1997, Alan left laboratory research to become a science journalist, a job better suited to his short attention span and wide-ranging interests. His work appears in numerous publications, including the Webby-winning New York Academy of Sciences site, several of the Nature journals, and trade publications such as Drug Discovery and Development and Bioscience Technology. He blogs at alandove.
Rich Condit, Ph.D. began his scientific career at the age of six when he had the good fortune to move to a property in Marin County, California that had a creek running through the back yard. There he conducted an informal and largely unconscious multiyear study of the life cycle of the frog, until high school interrupted his investigations with more worldly pursuits. Rich found his passion for laboratory science as an undergraduate at the University of California, Santa Cruz, studying the genetics of antibiotic resistance in bacteria in the laboratory of Cedric Davern and ribosome structure in the laboratory of Harry Noller. Rich began studying viruses as a graduate student at Yale University, where he conducted research on gene regulation during bacteriophage T7 infection in the laboratory of Joan Steitz, receiving a Ph.D. in 1975. As a postdoc at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, in London, England from 1975-1977 under the mentorship of Robert Kamen, Rich studied transcriptional regulation of gene expression during infection by mouse polyoma virus, a DNA tumor virus. From 1977-1978 Rich undertook a second postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratories of Joseph Kates and William Bauer in the Microbiology Department at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he initiated his studies on the poxvirus vaccinia. Rich was an Assistant and Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1978 until 1990, when he moved to the University of Florida as a Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. Since 1977, Rich has used a genetic approach to study transcriptional regulation of viral gene expression and, more recently, virus assembly using vaccinia as a model system. Rich runs a relatively small research laboratory and still conducts his own experiments whenever possible. In both the laboratory and in the classroom, Rich teaches virology to graduate students, medical students and undergraduate students. Rich plans to remain at the University of Florida for the remainder of his formal career when he can once again turn his curiosity to less formal pursuits. There’s a creek in his back yard…
Rich first appeared on TWiV as a guest on episode #26, Poxviruses, in March of 2009 and after several return visits became a regular participant in February of 2010. Rich feels strongly that science is for everyone and that an understanding of the scientific basis of our existence and an appreciation for the methods used to gain that understanding is critically important for the future of the globe. Rich is grateful that TWiV provides an opportunity to communicate this passion to a broad audience of listeners.
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi guys,
Just a quick one to say I love the show.
I'm a part time postgraduate student in biomedical science and have to say i found it really easy to absorb and entertaining.
I would really like if you could do a little section about Mumps as we are getting public health warnings here (Republic of Ireland) telling everyone to make sure they are vaccinated.
I got struck down with the virus when I was a student (despite being vaccinated) and have a special interest because of that. It's a nasty dose let me tell you! (far worse that the swelling in the neck was the 14 days waiting to be affected by the swelling in more sensitive masculine areas, there is a certain level of anxiety there
)
in case you are interested i have attached a link to the public announcements we are getting.
http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2009/01/07...
(as an observation the figures they give are very short term since and it was a long time ago that I was vaccinated I'm not sure how meaningful they are. the majority of those affected are in their late teens so at a guess I would say that either there was a defective batch of vaccine, a new vaccine is administered now or there is a different strain of the virus. maybe I'm way off ill leave it to the experts
)
Regards,
Mark
I can not get enough of your podcasts, I am constantly on I-tunes looking for new ones.
Great podcast look forward to it every week.
As a practicing doc who learned most of his cellular chemistry back before you got your Ph.D.s , I'm not as up to date on the inner workings of nucleic acids. It would be helpful if you could do a show reviewing some of the more technical terms you guys use. Alternately, if you just gave a sentence explaining what the terms meant it would greatly help someone who thinks a “promoter segment” is someplace for the managers of professional boxers to hang out.
A few episodes back you mentioned that Chloroquin was found to inhibit a particular viral enzyme or protein that was found in some viruses including the Ebola family. Since the locations for Ebola and Malaria overlap, there must have been periods during Ebola outbreaks when humans were taking Chloroquin for malaria. It should be possible to look back and see if those individuals had a lower incidence of Ebola infection or lower death rates. Even if individual patients could not be identified, it might be possible to compare the size of Ebola outbreaks in areas with varying prevalences of malaria on the assumption that areas with higher malaria infections had higher numbers of humans taking Chloroquin.
Keep up the great work.
Thanks
Hello Gentlemen,
I work in IT but came across your podcast listening to the recent Futures In Biotech episode. I must say that I'm a HUGE fan now and am trying to catchup on episodes.
A few years go there was a lot of concern here in Toronto with West Nile virus. From a common person's person's perspective your podcast gave me the information I really needed to understand what was happening – far and away better than traditional media could provide.
You're going a great service. Please keep it up!
And I'll definitely recommend this to my friends and family. Thanks guys. 
Ennio
Hi Ennio,
Thanks for your support. We were hoping that my appearance on FIB
would attract some of Marc Pelletier's listeners, and you are the
first we have heard from.
We have all intentions of continuing TWiV, bringing on new guests and
explaining virology to everyone.
Vincent
Can you display representation of your topics on a 'blackboard'?
Can you point me to an example of topics on a blackboard?
Thanks again for the show Doctor. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of posting a review in the iTunes store (5 stars and it should be visible in the next few days I would think).
As for possible topics, is there any chance for segments of “Viruses for Dummies”? For example, I just listened to episode 8, with the of the person who had bone marrow transplanted and appears AIDS-free – but I don't understand how that would work…
Take care.
Ennio
diagrams..for the older docs,such as myself
Hi Dr. Racaniello & Dr. Despommier:
Congratualtions for your great show. Although I have my MEng degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, I have found deeply interesting your show. Although I have always liked biology, toxicology and of course virology, the concepts I have learned much much more about your field.
Two questions I would like to pass to you.
1) Can you cover in a future show the Human papillomavirus (HPV) and how it evolves into Cancer ?
2) Do you know where I can research a little bit about computer simulations, about the behavior of human viruses.
Thank you so much.
Leonardo Hernandez, BSEE, MEng, PEng.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Two comments.
I learn from your podcast.commuting to work on an interstate freeway in Michigan. Yes a few of us in Michigan are still employed. I can always plainly and clearly hear Vince and Alan. Dick is hard to hear. Is there something wrong with his mike? I could barely understand Saul. Please ask your sound team to help Dick and wonderful guests like Saul to be heard!
To answer a question posed in one of your podcats: When a newborn becomes infected during birth by a virus infected mother the route of transmission is called “vertical peri-natal transmission”. This occurs in infants born to women infected with hepatitis B virus with high viral load. Asian babies and toddlers acquire hepatitis B virus infected from their siblings and parents via “horizontal transission”.
Hi Professor,
finally caught up and TWIV will be a permanent resident on my IPod.
Thanks also for reading my message online.
Previously I mentioned 'viruses for dummies' and I think your entries on your blog are exactly what I was looking for. I think I can fill in missing blanks in my knowledge with a few books, articles, etc…
If I may mention a couple of podcasts and a blog for your consideration (none of which I'm involved with – I'm just a fan):
CBC Quirks and Quarks: http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/
Slacker Astronomy: http://www.slackerastronomy.org/wordpress/podcast/ (blog and podcast).
Thank you again for a great show!
Ennio
Vince:
I used to be impressed with all your peer reviewed journal publications, but USA Today.
Wow, you can't get any more impressive than that.
Dear Dr Racaniello and Dr Despommier ,
Excellent program , I am interested and more than not fascinated by viruses so your show is right up my ally. Thank you for your recent episode with Dr. Peter Palese , I have had my suspicions as to the magnitude and virulence of the Mexican Influenza and his explanation of variations in hemagglutiin and neuraminidase between different H1N1 strains was very helpful. As soon as the outbreaks occurred I checked your podcasts for new episodes , because I trust your coverage over the national inquirer type news media we have today. Please have more episodes covering the biology of different viruses , it is disappointing that we seem to focus on the diseases they cause, when an explanation concerning the virus itself sheds more light on the effects that it causes ie mexican influenza. Thanks again for your work and commitment to education and broadcast excellence
Sincerely from the South Carolina
Matthew
Thank you. The writer of the USA Today articles, Dan Vergano, seems to
get it. He asked me the right questions and didn't over-hype the
story.
Hey,
I really like this show, I started on my Bsc. in Biotechnology and you guys are really giving me something to look forward to, when our courses are dull. I also heard about you through Futures in Biotech.
I have a quick question: I live in Denmark, so there's quite a lot of influenza and other throat viruses going around here, even though we have seasonality it's not uncommon to get flu (or something else) in the summer period. Despite this it's not normal to get vaccinated (only some elderly people) and I have never heard of anybody using tamiflu (although I'm sure it's used in immune incompetent patients).
But it sounds like it's quite normal to use in the US, can you explain this difference?
Greetings TWiV, I really enjoy listening to your podcast and find it quite enlightening, I am really interested in learning more about microorganisms, particularly viruses in general and have learned a lot from this podcast. I was wondering if you could consider making an episode focusing on Filoviruses. The reason why I am requesting this is because I just started reading a book that specifies in great detail about the Ebola and Marburg virus outbreaks in Africa and the adverse effects it has on human beings and monkeys. Also, I have two questions regarding the new strain of H1N1 Influenza virus you discussed in previous episodes and would appreciate your comments and feedback.
1. Does the RNA strand of H5N1 Avian Influenza in this new strain contribute to it's pathogenicity, if so why?
2 Also, does the RNA strand of Human Influenza virus in this subtype enable it to become more easily adaptable and transmissible between human beings?
P.S. Perhaps you should create an episode about computer viruses, haha. Great podcast, keep it up and I'll make sure I'll recommend this to anyone interested in Virology.
Hello,
My hustand told me about your show a while ago and since then I've been listening to it every week. Neither my husbad nor I are scientists but we love it. I have a question which may sound very basic but I have been wondering about it for a while. Can one become negatively effected by being vaccinated against to many things? I refer to the situation nowadays when there are vaccinations not just against the core deadly viruses (polio etc) but against stomach bug viruses, flu etc. Many thanks. Danica
Could you include a segment of basic virology with each episode? I much enjoy the show. Thanks for your efforts.
Great show! I would like to hear you interview Perry Bates who intevented the only stand alone machine that kills airborne pathagons, not just mold, and would fit in well with most of your topics. He would love to do and interview, and I can get you in touch. You can check out more info at http://www.mold-sentry.com. Here is an interview he did with Denny Schaffer on his morning radio show: http://www.drop.io/moldsentry. Keep up the great work.
Since my undergraduate degree (4.5 years ago), I have worked as a virology lab technician (on Buggy Creek Virus). I love the podcast and am considering graduate school in virology, and your podcast has given me much information and many ideas! You have talked about bringing in younger guests, and I like this idea, but would prefer a graduate student who is familiar with virology, but not as versed as you. Mainly, I am writing to suggest bringing more women on the show! I am slowly listening to old episodes, while keeping up with new ones, and notice a lack of female voices. I think it would be great if you could bring in young, female virologist that may encourage the current and up-and-coming female scientist. Thank you for your time and all the great topics on viruses!
Vince & Dick,
On a recent trip to North Carolina a friend at Med School gave me podcast 1 about West Nile. Fantastic episode. I have since downloaded the whole back catalogue and can't wait to listen to them when i go back to Tanzania to continue my PhD in the control of malaria mosquitoes. I will be sure to pass the episodes on to my friends & colleagues who, I'm sure, will love the show.
It would be great if you could do a show on Rift Valley Fever. There was an outbreak last year in Dodoma, Tanzania that resulted in a lot of people stopping eating beef. Especially interesting with the vector side of things. Would be very interested to hear your & Dick's take on this.
Keep up the great work chaps!
Oh, & try and keep the humour in the show. The more lame virus jokes/anecdotes the better.
Hello Professor Racaniello,
First I want to say that I love your podcast! I’m fascinated by the topic and may have majored in virology if I was exposed to this material earlier in life. I am a Chemistry major and have worked in the Semiconductor manufacturing field for more than 20 years building integrated circuits and now work for a small company in Monroe, Washington making state-of-the-art compact high-powered solid state laser systems.
I’m glad you’ve decided to devout part of the show to basic virology (so called Virology 101.) Although I understand most of the material on the show, some of the common virology terms used by you and Dick are foreign to me. In future virology primers it would be helpful to define and explain some of the more common virology terms commonly in the field of virology, which may not be so common to us lay people.
For instance, I’ve heard the term negative-strand RNA mentioned a few times on the podcast. It would be nice to explain exactly would a negative-strand RNA virus is and how it works. I googled the term but the definition I found online is fuzzy. The negative strand virus was explained as the antisense-strand of RNA which does not encode for mRNA (mRNA encodes proteins.) What does the antisense-strand of RNA encode for and how does it work?
Here is one more last item. I will post a link to a suppressed 60-minute episode back from 1977-1978 which covered a Swine Flu vaccination campaign that seemed to go wrong. I’d really like to hear your perspective on this 60-minute episode.
http://tinyurl.com/mtv4gb
Thanks much,
Gus
PS: Does Dick have a Twitter account? I follow both you and Alan on Twitter but haven’t been able to find Dick’s account (if he has one.)
I love the podcast, I am a doctor of pharmacy and I find the information to be very interesting and informative. I would love to hear something about the JC virus, recently I saw a case where this virus was suspected. Thank you
Chris
Boston
Greetings.
I just wanted to send all of you some well deserved kudos for your superb presentation of Twiv: the engaging and informative weekly podcast on the world of viruses. (The kind that make you sick of course)
Your banter is fun but not over the top and while you don't pull any intellectual punches with your use of nomenclature, you're explanations are thorough enough so that laymen like me are able to come along for the ride.
Two viruses I'd like to hear more about are Viral hemorrhagic fever (that sounds like a really nasty one) and Rift valley fever.
Thanks again and keep up the great work!
Matt
Great program!
I love the show and currently do some undergrad research in virology and it has captured my interest. I am applying to graduate school and have attended some fairs, but I am still struggling to find a program that is right for me.
I wanted your opinion on schools that had good virology or microbiology/immunology PhD programs.
I know this is a broad question but I figured someone with your experience could point me in the right direction.
Thanks!
Blake
I'm still working my way through your fantastic podcasts. Kudos on making virology simple and entertaining enough to capture the interest of the non-virologist.
In show 29, you mentioned two theories of viral evolution: most primitive form of life or devolved form of life. I have to disagree with both theories. A third (and to my mind, more likely) theory, is that viruses evolved from horizontal gene transfer pathways. As HGT evolved, defense must have developed as well as counter-transfers. I propose that some of these counter-transfer strategies evolved into weaponized inter-bacterium “modules” which, in turn, were better weaponized by adding self-replication genes to the mix (not unlike the evolution of computer viruses). Thus viruses evolved as sub-units of (archae)bacteria and took on a “life” of there own.
That brings up the topic of the definition of life. I would propose that life could probably be defined as a self-replicating “process” that generates a repetative, localized decrease in entropy. This definition should, I believe, eliminate candles, stars, and most enzymes as forms of life but would allow viruses to be considered borderline life forms.
Thanks for the great podcast.
My wife and I have 12 grand children. Most of my family was home for Thanksgiving and one evening we got into a discussion about chickenpox vaccinations. A couple of the parents stated that they had heard that the chickenpox vaccination may do MORE harm than good. Their opinion was that it was best to actually get the virus as a young child.
Everyone agreed that any ADULT who had never had chicken pox or been vaccinated, should be vaccinated. Could you shed some light on this subject?
You just got another one of Marc's listerners! Awesome podcast. Now I see I've got a lot of work to do – 60 some odd episodes, huh? Wonderful!
Welcome, sciguy! Marc will be on TWiV in January 2010. He's terrific;
I like his podcast. Don't hesitate to join the discussion!
Hello Dr Racaniello,
i was listening to your podcast last week on the new “poxvirus” found in the squirrels of Europe (both red and grey) and the comment was made that rabbits are rodents, you were talking about the rapid breeding rates of rabbits and to the myxomatosis virus outbreak in Australia. I thought i should correct the group that rabbits are not rodents, but are in fact from the Order lagomorpha Family Leporidae. However, squirrels are rodents, Order Rodentia Family Sciuridae. Just keeping you honest, love the podcast
Matt
Thanks for picking that up, Matt. Alan writes: “My bad. The rabbits
were once considered rodents, but they were reclassified into a
separate order several decades ago. We can make amends on the next
episode.”
PencilThings.com is selling a pencil which says:
It's Pointless to Panic About the Flu,
Wash Your Hands Frequently and Thoroughly. Stay at Home If You Are Sick.
Avoid Touching Your Eyes, Nose and Mouth. Get a Flu Shot.
Cover Your Nose and Mouth When Coughing and Sneezing.
Avoid Close Contact (6 feet) With Sick Persons
It could be a fun little gift
Here's the link for the pencil:
http://www.pencilthings.com/product.php?product...
PencilThings.com is selling a pencil which says:
It's Pointless to Panic About the Flu,
Wash Your Hands Frequently and Thoroughly. Stay at Home If You Are Sick.
Avoid Touching Your Eyes, Nose and Mouth. Get a Flu Shot.
Cover Your Nose and Mouth When Coughing and Sneezing.
Avoid Close Contact (6 feet) With Sick Persons
It could be a fun little gift
Here's the link for the pencil:
http://www.pencilthings.com/product.php?product...
Gentlemen:
I'm looking forward to the “This month in parasitology” podcast. I have not found the link on your site. Perhaps you haven't started on this yet? I'm keen to listen.
Best regards,
Rufus Knapp
You can find “This Week in Parasitism” at microbeworld.org/twip.
Dear Drs Vince and Dick,
I have come late to your show, and have been listening for only a month now. This a wonderful podcast, and I just finished episode 2o.
I look forward to 21- …
In episode 20, when you were discussing why Aedes egypti only needed one blood meal, but they would go for more, my first thought was that the malarial parasite might be controlling this behaviour. Make the little #$%# go back for more, even though she didn't need to.
I'm sure you have come back to this question, but I had to commment. Now I have to race through all the episodes to find out if my question has been answered!
thank you for your great podcast.
paul barry
Dear Vincent Racaniello,
I love your TWiV netcasts. They are perfect for my busy lifestyle. I listen while doing dishes, cycling to work and working at my lab-bench. My first degree was in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, then I worked in Immunology for a couple of years before beginning my PhD in Influenza with Wendy Barclay (in Geoff Smith's Section of Virology in London).
Having not enjoyed a formal education in Virology, the netcasts give me a chance to fill the gaps in my knowledge as well as keep up to date on new important discoveries. There is just not enough time to read as much as I would like to: It's hard enough staying on top of the flu literature!!!
I love Virology, but miss Immunology. Can you try to convince one of your colleagues from the Immunology side of your department to start up TWiI???
I would be forever great-full.
Cheers,
Deena
Once upon a time bacteria discovered a mechanism they could use to backup their genome data in solid state external devices called phages. This had obvious survival value. Silly scientists discovered these data stores and thought they were organisms so they tried to classify them and work out their genomes. After a while they discovered that the so called independent genomes for each of the phage “families” were just components in the bacteria's massively distributed datastore. Trying to store all the genomes for all the organisms in the world soon brought them to the realisation that bacteria were very wise indeed and that they had better just let organisms store their own genomes for us to sample when needed rather than trying to fill the world with human created hard drives. ;-}.
Rick Swancott.