Author name: Vincent Racaniello

I'm Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Columbia University in New York. I run a research lab where we study poliovirus, rhinovirus, and other RNA viruses. I also love teaching about viruses - check out virology.ws, microbe.tv, or iTunes University for some of my offerings. I want to be Earth's virology professor.

TWiV 677: Does antibody really know what time it is?

1 Comment / This Week in Virology / By

Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19, then we discuss rapid deployment of SARS-CoV-2 testing by research laboratories in San Francisco, longitudinal observation of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in patients, and listener questions on vaccines, loss of smell, face masks, and more. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 677 (97 MB .mp3, 162 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become …

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TWiV 675: Forget what you’ve herd about immunity

4 Comments / Commentary, This Week in Virology / By

Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19, then we discuss Bill Foege’s letter to CDC director Robert Redfield, the false promise of herd immunity for COVID-19, secret blueprints for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trials released, and neuropilin-1 as a possible entry protein for the virus. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 675 (105 MB .mp3, 174 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google …

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An explanation for the low quality antibodies produced during serious SARS-CoV-2 infection

Basic virology / By

Although we are less than a year into the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, it appears that the antibodies induced by infection are often of poor quality, and B cell memory seems limited. An explanation for this outcome might be a consequence of the loss of germinal centers in COVID-19 patients. Examination of lymph nodes and spleen of …

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We missed SARS-CoV-2, what other coronaviruses are we ignoring?

1 Comment / Basic virology, Information / By

After SARS-Cov came and went in 2003, we learned that bats in China harbor SARS-like coronaviruses with the capacity to infect human cells. This information was largely ignored, otherwise we would have stopped this pandemic in its tracks. A coronavirus that went from bats to pigs might represent yet another threat to human health. Swine …

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