A consequence of the recent warm weather in the northeastern United States is the emergence of crocuses, an event that I documented at the TWiV Facebook page. A reader replied that it reminded her of the highly valued tulips with beautiful variegations produced by viruses. In 17th-century Holland patterned tulips such as the Semper Augustus (image) …
It is spring break for students at Columbia University, which means that my annual virology course is one lecture past the halfway point. The first eleven lectures addressed basic aspects of viral replication in cell culture, including virus entry into cells, genome replication, and assembly. From this point onwards we will be discussing viral infection of …
On episode #174 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich consider whether pet dogs might transmit human noroviruses, and an RNA virus microRNA that might be involved in oncogenesis. You can find TWiV #174 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.
On episode #173 of the podcast This Week in Virology, the TWiVites discuss seroevidence for human infection with avian influenza H5N1, and the discovery of a new influenza virus in Guatemalan bats. You can find TWiV #173 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.
Ron Fouchier has discussed his influenza H5N1 transmission experiments in ferrets at an ASM Biodefense Conference, clarifying several assumptions about the transmissibility of the virus in this animal model. Two different influenza H5N1 strains were used for Fouchier’s experiments: a wild type virus, and a mutated virus (we’ll call it mutH5N1). He did not reveal the nature …
Influenza H5N1 is not lethal in ferrets after airborne transmission Read More »
On episode #172 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Kathy discuss how a virus may cause disease distant from its replication site, then review a day in the life of a senior microbiology professor. You can find TWiV #172 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.
