We have previously discussed the idea that viruses originated from selfish genetic elements such as plasmids and transposons when these nucleic acids acquired structural proteins (see A plasmid on the road to becoming a virus). I want to explore in more detail the idea that the structural proteins of  viruses likely originated ...

Jonathan Yewdell, Chief of the Cellular Biology Section at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has written a book entitled Truth Wins: A Practical Guide to Succeeding in Biomedical Research.  Dr. Yewdell is well known for his presentations about the problems with biomedical science, a subject we discussed ...

The TWiViridae review the 2017 Nobel Prizes for cryoEM and circadian rhythms, and discuss modulation of plant virus replication by RNA methylation. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 463 (63 MB .mp3, 104 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv

Chemical modification of RNA by the addition of methyl groups is known to alter gene expression without changing the nucleotide sequence. The addition of a methyl group to adenosine has been found to regulate gene expression of animal viruses, and most recently of plant viruses. The illustration shows a methyl ...

Vincent speaks with 1993 Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp about his career and his seminal discovery of RNA splicing in mammalian cells, which changed our understanding of gene structure. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 462 (24 MB .mp3, 39 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv