Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Dickson Despommier

Vincent, Alan, and Dickson discuss the reduction in genome size of Mimivirus upon passage in amoeba, and analysis of the microbiome of honeybees.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #139 (96 MB .mp3, 80 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

• Mimivirus genome reduction after amoebal culture (PNAS)
• Carbohydrate-Active enZYmes database
• Analysis of the honey bee microbiome (PLoS One)
• The colony-collapse blues (TWiV 104)
• Blessed are the beekeepers (Wall Street Journal)
• TWiV on Facebook
• Letters read on TWiV 139

Weekly Science Picks

Alan – Life Before the Dinosaurs by ABC
Dickson – Inside Jokes by Matthew M. Hurley
Vincent – The Tree of Life by Jonathan Eisen

Listener Pick of the Week

Lance – A History of the World since 9/11 by Dominic Streatfeild

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv, or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twiv.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

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.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #93 (76 MB .mp3, 105 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, or by email, or listen on your mobile device with Stitcher Radio.

Links for this episode:

• 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

Weekly Science Picks

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

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.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

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.

This episode is sponsored by Data Robotics Inc. Use the promotion code TWIVPOD to receive $75-$500 off a Drobo.

Win a free Drobo S! Contest rules here.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #77 (60 MB .mp3, 83 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, or by email.

Links for this episode:

• 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

Weekly Science Picks

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

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.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit

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.

Sponsor: Try GotoMyPC free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomypc.com/podcast

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #63 (64 MB .mp3, 89 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, or by email.

Links for this episode:

• 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, epidemiology and experimental infection
• Another huge virus from amoebae (Wired article, PNAS article, review article)
• Discussion on rabies bait vaccine at virology blog, and status of the program
• List of human viral diseases (pdf)

Weekly Science Picks
Rich Infectious Awearables
Alan Darwine
Vincent Microbial Art

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.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Raul Rabadan

Vincent, Alan, and Raul Rabadan converse about polio survivors in iron lungs, bocavirus, structure of mimivirus, and genome sequence analysis of influenza H1N1 viruses.

Sponsor:  Try GotoMyPC free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomypc.com/podcast

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #32 (51 MB .mp3, 73 minutes)

Links for this episode:

TWiV will be live at the ASM General Meeting in Philadelphia on Tuesday, May 19, 2:00 PM, Press Room 203A. Video will be streamed live at this location.

Weekly Science Picks
Alan The Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia
Vincent Pi Cubed for iPhone/iPod Touch (Sunset Lake Software, $9.99)
Raul Science and New England Journal articles on H1N1 influenza

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twiv@twiv.tv

Subscribe to TWiV in iTunes, by the RSS feed, or by email

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, and Alan Dove

Vincent, Dick, and Alan review a new macaque model for HIV-1 infection, a possible role for Epstein-Barr virus in multiple sclerosis, accidental release of H5N1 by a vaccine company, resistance of frogs to virus infection, and extreme virology – the biggest and smallest viruses and viral genomes.

Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #23 (34 MB .mp3,  49 minutes)

Links for this episode:

• Harold Varmus on The Daily Show
• Macaque model for HIV-1 infection (photo of pig-tailed macaque)
• Possible role of Epstein-Barr virus in multiple sclerosis
• Accidental distribution of H5N1 influenza virus by pharmaceutical company
• Major histocompatibility class I marker and frog resistance to viral infection
• Smallest virion and DNA genome: Circovirus
• Largest virion and DNA genome: Mimivirus
• Biggest RNA genome: (we forgot to mention on the show!) Coronavirus SW1
• List of viral genome lengths at NCBI
• Sputnik virophage
• Papers for Macintosh and iPhone

Science blog of the week: H5N1 by Croft
Science podcast pick of the week: MicrobeWorld video
Science book of the week: Autism’s False Prophets by Paul A. Offit, MD (podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell)

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@twiv.tv.

Subscribe to TWiV in iTunes, by the RSS feed, or by email.