On episode #275 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent and Rich meet up with Eugene Koonin to talk about the central role of viruses in the evolution of all life. You can find TWiV #275 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.

A new virus called Pithovirus sibericum has been isolated from 30,000 year old Siberian permafrost. It is the oldest DNA virus of eukaryotes ever isolated, showing that viruses can retain infectivity in nature for very long periods of time. Pithovirus was isolated by inoculating cultures of the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellani with samples taken in the year ...

On episode #274 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiV team discusses recent cases of polio-like paralysis in California, and the virome of 14th century paleofeces. You can find TWiV #274 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.

Image credit: Jason Roberts Recently a number of children in California have developed a poliomyelitis-like paralysis. The cause of this paralysis is not yet known, and information about the outbreak is scarce. Here is what we know so far: At least 5, and perhaps as many as 20 children have ...

Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), first identified in the fall of 2012 in a Saudi Arabian patient, has since infected over 180 individuals, causing 77 deaths. Antibodies to the virus and the viral genome have been found in dromedary camels in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, implicating those animals as the source of human infections. ...