Polio returns to Nigeria, Zika virus spreads in Miami, and virus infection of plants attracts bumblebees for pollination, from the virus gentlepeople at TWiV. You can find TWiV #400 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below. [powerpress url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV402.mp3″] Click arrow to play Download TWiV 402 (85 MB .mp3, 118 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV!
A battle is brewing between two research groups in Marseille, France that are involved in the discovery and study of giant viruses. Didier Raoul and colleagues believe that they have discovered a CRISPR-like, DNA based defense system in mimivirus that confers resistance to virophage (paper link). Claverie and Abergel disagree: they think that the defense …
Do giant viruses have a CRISPR-like immune system or a protein restriction factor? Read More »
A major new feature of the fourth edition of Principles of Virology is the inclusion of 26 video interviews with leading scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of virology. For the chapter on Transformation and Oncogenesis, Vincent spoke with Nobel Laureate J. Michael Biship, of the University of California, San Francisco, about his career and his work on oncogenes.
Update: July 30, 2018 This letter inaccurately explained the issues with the PLoS One study. Specifically, when I wrote it I misunderstood which analyses had and hadn’t been done. The letter was e-mailed to PloS One long ago, so I can’t correct what has already been sent. But the following three paragraphs should have replaced …
Science publishing has a problem. I agree with Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman, who wrote that prestigious science journals like Cell, Nature, and Science – which he calls ‘luxury journals’ – are damaging science. The succession of articles on Zika virus nicely illustrates this problem. The big three in science publishing – Science, Nature, and Cell …
I am convinced that Zika virus causes microcephaly in humans, but it would be valuable to have an animal model to study how the virus crosses the placenta and damages the fetus. As with many questions about Zika virus, answers are coming very rapidly, and three different groups have now provided substantial insight into this problem. When a …
Zika virus crosses the placenta and causes microcephaly in mice Read More »
