On episode #227 of the science show This Week in Virology, the complete TWiV team reviews the controversial publication of the HeLa cell genome, a missing vial of Guanarito virus in a BSL-4 facility, and human infections with avian influenza H7N9 virus. You can find TWiV #227 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.
Fourteen people in China have been infected with avian influenza H7N9 virus, leading to five deaths. This avian influenza virus has never been isolated from humans. Influenza A viruses with the H7 hemagglutinin protein circulate among birds, and some, such as H7N2, H7N3, and H7N7, have been previously found to infect humans. It is not known …
First human infections with avian influenza H7N9 virus Read More »
Harvard University is home to some of the world’s finest virologists. But apparently they do not communicate with the writers at Harvard Magazine, where a botched story on the avian H5N1 influenza virus has just been published. The problems begin with the first paragraph: But when Dutch researchers recently created an even more deadly strain …
Harvard University: Great virology, bad science writing Read More »
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On episode #217 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, Rich, and Dickson review influenza vaccines. You can find TWiV #217 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.
Yesterday Denise Grady wrote in the New York Times about the end of the moratorium on influenza H5N1 virus research. The story headline read: Research to resume on modified, deadlier bird flu The Minneapolis Star Tribune reprinted Ms. Grady’s story with the following headline: Studies will resume on deadly modified flu virus Where do these …
