On episode #280 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiVmeisters answer listener email about the NEIDL, negative results, patenting MERS-coronavirus, human papillomavirus transmission, canine distemper virus, and much, much more. You can find TWiV #280 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.

The NEIDL (National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory) at Boston University is a newly constructed biosafety level 4 facility which can be used to study the most dangerous human pathogens. The facility is amazingly safe, as we documented in our film about the facility, Threading the NEIDL. Some members of the ...

On the science show This Week in Virology we receive many questions and comments, which are read every week. I also get many questions here on virology blog, which I tend to answer by email. However I think that everyone could benefit from these questions, so I've decided to post ...

On episode #279 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Kathy reveal how a retrovirus in the human genome keeps embryonic stem cells in a pluripotent state, from where they can differentiate into all cells of the body. You can find TWiV #279 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.

About eight percent of human DNA is viral - remnants of ancestral infections with retroviruses. These endogenous retroviral sequences do not produce infectious viruses, and most are considered to be junk DNA. But some of them provide important functions. The protein called syncytin, which is essential for formation of the ...