Robert Herriman of The Global Dispatch interviewed me this week on the H1N1 - H5N1 reassortant study that has been in the headlines: There was much written concerning the research published earlier this month in Science, where researchers from China's Harbin Veterinary Research Institute reported creating an  avian H5N1 (highly pathogenic) and pandemic 2009 H1N1 (easily transmissible) hybrid, that ...

This discussion of West Nile virus was recorded at the headquarters of the American Society for Microbiology during a "Microbes After Hours" event on May 6, 2013. The speakers are Dr. Lyle Petersen Lyle R. Petersen, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases at CDC, and Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, MD, FIDSA, Associate ...

I joined Buddhini Samarasinghe, Scott Lewis, Tommy Leung, and William McEwan for a discussion of the avian influenza H5N1 virus transmission experiments done in ferrets.  

On episode #232 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent meets up with Roberto, Reuben, Lou, and Leslie at the University of Minnesota to talk about their work on HIV-1, APOBEC proteins, measles virus, and teaching virology to undergraduates. You can find TWiV #232 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.

Those of you with an interest in virology, or perhaps simply sensationalism, have probably seen the recent headlines proclaiming another laboratory-made killer influenza virus. From The Independent: 'Appalling irresponsibility: Senior scientists attack Chinese researchers for creating new strains of influenza virus'; and from InSing.com: 'Made-in-China killer flu virus'. It's unfortunate ...