Could ancient host proteins contribute to the replication of a modern virus? The answer is, not very well (link to paper). Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites, which means that they have to get inside of a host cell to produce more viruses. The genomes of all viruses, even the biggest ...

Ben tenOever joins the TWiVoli to discuss the evolution of RNA interference and his lab's finding that RNAse III nucleases, needed for the maturation of cellular RNAs, are an ancient antiviral RNA recognition platform in all domains of life.   Click arrow to play Download TWiV 450 (58 MB .mp3, 96 min) ...

I just love it when long standing mysteries in virology are suddenly solved, typically by the use of new technologies. In this story, the long standing mystery was why poxvirus mRNAs have a stretch of poly(A) in their 5'-noncoding regions. The answer is that it allows the ribosome to preferentially ...

The TWiV Council explores the finding that facial appearance affects science communication, and evidence that RNA interference confers antiviral immunity in mammalian cells. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 449 (62 MB .mp3, 102 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Full show notes at microbe.tv/twiv

Wired Magazine recently published an article with a headline distinctly opposite of mine, which claims that the traditional lecture is dead. I disagree, and here is why. The thesis of the article, by Rhett Allain, is that modern technologies have made the traditional lecture obsolete. The traditional lecture is one during which a ...