Virology lecture #17: Acute infections
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Futures in Biotech 58: The Vertical Farm
I joined Marc Pelletier on episode 58 of Futures in Biotech for a conversation with Dickson Despommier. We talked about some of Dickson’s passions – eukaryotic parasites and vertical farming. The idea for placing hydroponic farms in skyscrapers, about to be realized, was conceived by one of Professor Despommier’s classes at Columbia University. Video courtesy …
Poliovirus vaccine, SV40, and human cancer
Deep sequencing – which identified a viral contaminant of the rotavirus vaccine Rotarix – could have revealed the presence of simian virus 40 (SV40) in the poliovirus vaccine, had the technique been available in the 1950s. Exposure of over 100 million Americans to SV40, and many more worldwide, could have been avoided, as well as the debate …
Poliovirus vaccine safety
The contamination of the rotavirus vaccine Rotarix with porcine circovirus 1 DNA was revealed by deep sequencing. The same technique was also used to demonstrate that oral poliovirus vaccine does not contain viruses that can cause poliomyelitis. The oral poliovirus vaccine strains developed by Albert Sabin (pictured) were licensed in the United States in 1962, …
Inhibitors of XMRV
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus related virus (XMRV) has been implicated in prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Because XMRV is a retrovirus, it might be susceptible to antiviral drugs that are licensed for the treatment of AIDS. AZT (azidothymidine) was previously found to block XMRV replication. A screen of forty-five compounds reveals that XMRV …
Microbiology education and social media
At the Spring 2010 meeting of the Society for General Microbiology In Edinburgh I spoke about ‘Social Media in Microbiology Education and Research’. In my presentation I reviewed how I use blogging, podcasting, and other social media tools to teach the public about viruses. Below is a video recording of my presentation. Many thanks to …