One of my goals as a science communicator is to be Earth’s virology professor. To do this I teach an undergraduate virology course at Columbia University and at iTunes University. This past summer I ported my undergraduate virology course to Coursera.org where I reached 26,000 students. My next virology course at Coursera, How viruses cause disease, …
On episode #261 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent meets up with Chantal and Jean-Michel at the first International Symposium on Giant Virus Biology in Tegernsee, Germany, to discuss their work on Mimivirus, Megavirus, and Pandoravirus. You can find TWiV #261 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.
On episode #260 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent visits the University of Wisconsin, Madison and speaks with Tom, Tony, and David about their work on virus discovery at the AIDS Vaccine Research Laboratory. You can find TWiV #260 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.
The hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) glycoproteins of the influenza virus particle serve distinct functions during infection. The HA binds sialic acid-containing cellular receptors and mediates fusion of the viral and cell membranes, while the NA removes sialic acids from glycoproteins. Apparently this division of labor is not absolute: influenza viruses have been identified with …
Changing influenza virus neuraminidase into a receptor binding protein Read More »
On episode #259 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent and Rich join Jackie at the University of Texas, Austin to talk about her work on mouse mammary tumor virus. You can find TWiV #259 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.
It is well known that aquatic birds are a major reservoir of influenza A viruses, and that pandemic human influenza virus strains of the past century derive viral genes from this pool. The recent discovery of two new influenza A viruses in bats suggests that this species may constitute another reservoir with even greater genetic …
