A strong argument that the novel human retrovirus XMRV is not a laboratory contaminant is the finding that viral DNA is integrated in chromosomal DNA of prostate tumors. Why does this result constitute such strong proof of viral infection? Establishment of an integrated copy of the viral genome - the ...

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit On episode #114 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich revisit ten compelling virology stories of 2010. [powerpress url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV114.mp3"] Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #114 (64 MB .mp3, 88 minutes). Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes ...

On my recent trip to record TWiV #111 at Florida Gulf Coast University, I visited Rich Condit in Gainesville. There he told me a story about how the bacteriophage T7 polymerase/promoter system was developed. It's an interesting tale that demonstrates how important scientific advances often have convoluted roots. You can ...

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Alan Rein On episode #113 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, and Rich discuss the retrovirus XMRV with retrovirologist Alan Rein of the National Cancer Institute. [powerpress url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV113.mp3"] Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #113 (55 MB ...

Yesterday the Chicago Tribune published my reaction to the four papers on the retrovirus XMRV published this week in the journal Retrovirology. I was quoted as saying "These four papers are probably the beginning of the end of XMRV and CFS". I wish to retract this statement and explain my reasons for ...