In episode #25 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Luis Villarreal talk about rabies in Viet Nam and Angola, needle-stick infections with ebolavirus and West Nile virus, and viral evolution. Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #25 or subscribe in iTunes or by email.
What is the most abundant biological entity in the oceans? Viruses, of course! The quantity and diversity of viruses in the seas are staggering. Each milliliter of ocean water contains several million virus particles – a global total of 1030 virions! If lined up end to end, they would stretch 200 million light years into …
Are viruses living entities? I don’t believe so, but it’s an engaging question for debate. On a recent episode of “This Week in Virology” we concluded that it’s somewhat of a futile argument because everyone has their own view; perhaps our time is better spent studying viruses than discussing whether or not they are alive. …
In contrast to acute viral infections, persistent infections last for long periods, and occur when the primary infection is not cleared by the adaptive immune response. Varicella-zoster virus, measles virus, HIV-1, and human cytomegalovirus are examples of viruses that cause typical persistent infections. A chronic infection is a type of persistent infection that is eventually …
When live, attenuated poliovirus vaccine was used in the US, its production and testing was regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Guidelines for preparing and testing the vaccine can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations – the codification of the rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies …
If you have ever wanted to make beautiful images of viruses, in colors of your choice, then go to VIPERdb, the virus particle explorer. The first crystallographic X-ray structure of a virus was that of tomato bushy stunt virus in 1977, followed by structures of the animal viruses poliovirus and rhinovirus in 1985. Since then …
