Viruses are known to evade the early, or innate, host defenses by interfering with the sensing of infection, production of IFN, and synthesis and activity of ISGs. Today we’ll examine the evidence that the function of one or more ISGs is blocked in poliovirus-infected cells. When IFN is added to the medium of cultured cells, hundreds of …
On episode #36 of the podcast “This Week in Virology”, Vincent, Alan, Dick, and Hamish Young discuss the 2009 influenza pandemic, first 2009 H1N1 vaccine, hunting mosquitoes with midges, vaccine-associated polio in India, and adenoviruses. [powerpress url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV036.mp3″] Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #36 or subscribe in iTunes or byemail.
Host defense mechanisms are imperfect because the genomes of every known virus encodes proteins that can block nearly every step of the immune response. For every host defense, there is a viral offense. Let’s consider the different ways that viruses are known to evade the early, or innate, host defenses. The illustration depicts in a …
The World Health Organization has declared that the world is now at the start of an influenza pandemic. WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said today: I have conferred with leading influenza experts, virologists, and public health officials. In line with procedures set out in the International Health Regulations, I have sought guidance and advice from …
Scientists and philosophers have long debated the trajectory of evolution. Some of the questions they consider include: is there a predictable direction for evolution, and if there is, what is the pathway? Are there evolutionary dead ends? Viruses are excellent subjects for the study of evolution: they have short generation times, high yields of offspring, …
While perusing the cleaning items at the supermarket last night, I spotted the words ‘Kills Flu Virus’ on a bottle of toilet bowl cleaner. Do toilets play a role in transmission of influenza? Influenza is an infection of the respiratory tract. The virus enters the tract in aerosols or by contact with saliva or other …
