The protozoan parasite Leishmania, transmitted to humans by the bite of a sandfly, may cause disfiguring skin lesions. A virus within the parasite appears to increase the risk of treatment failure with anti-leishmania drugs. A double-stranded RNA virus was found over 20 years ago to infect different species of Leishmania, with up to 50% of clinical isolates …
On episode #256 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, Alan, Rich, and Kathy review two papers that present evidence for RNA interference as an antiviral immunity mechanism in mammals. You can find TWiV #256 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.
While preparing a figure for a review article on innate sensing of RNA, I realized that the image was taking on facial features. I thought the readers of virology blog might be amused by the image that I created. Click on the thumbnail at left for a larger view. Now you know that I have …
