When we are born, our blood contains antibodies that we have inherited from our mothers. They are transferred across the placenta and provide protection from infection until IgG production begins around 15 weeks after birth. Can we exploit such antibody transfer by vaccinating pregnant mothers to protect newborns against infectious diseases that occur early after …
The TWiV team discusses Medusavirus, isolated from a hot spring in Japan, and induction of neurodegeneration by recurrent herpes simplex virus 1 infection of mice. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 543 (65 MB .mp3, 108 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv
by Gertrud U. Rey In 1998, a British doctor named Andrew Wakefield published a paper in the British journal The Lancet. In this paper, Wakefield implied that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine may cause developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The paper received wide publicity, and subsequently, MMR vaccination rates began …
Vincent travels to Microbiotix, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company in Worcester, MA to speak with four members of the company about their discovery and development of small molecule drugs that target serious infectious diseases. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 542 (40 MB .mp3, 65 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv
The TWiVers present mitoviruses, which infect mitochondria, and how quasi-enveloped hepatitis A virus gets naked again. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 541 (54 MB .mp3, 89 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv
A listener of the science podcast This Week in Virology asked in 2010 whether there are viruses that infect mitochondria: Is there a virus that infects mitochondria? It€™s an organelle that has its own genetic material and polymerase, so it could replicate a virus. Does the mitochondrial double membrane and the cell membrane impose a …
