On episode #172 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent and Kathy discuss how a virus may cause disease distant from its replication site, then review a day in the life of a senior microbiology professor. You can find TWiV #172 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.

The fatality rate for human infections with avian influenza H5N1 is widely quoted at >50%, based on the number of deaths among the fewer than 600 cases confirmed by the World Health Organization. Wang, Parides, and Palese suggest that this number is an overestimate: ...the stringent criteria for confirmation of ...

For the second time in a week I note the passing of an important virologist. Renato Dulbecco, together with David Baltimore and Howard Temin, received the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries about how tumor viruses interact with the genetic material of the cell. Dulbecco also devised my ...

On episode #171 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Matt Frieman joins Vincent, Alan, and Dickson to review virus production in single cells and single virion genomics. You can find TWiV #171 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.

Dr. Bruce Alberts, editor of Science magazine, said that the journal will publish the full version of the Fouchier H5N1 influenza virus paper if mechanisms are not developed to ensure circulation of the information to scientists. Alberts made his comments at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting ...