Here is my favorite poem about science. I found it stuck on the wall in my empty lab when I first came to Columbia in the fall of 1982. It is still tacked to my corkboard, yellowing and frayed.  V.B. Nimble, V.B. Quick  (inspired by V.B. Wigglesworth, F.R.S., Quick Professor ...

Is that title correct? Arenaviruses have an RNA genome which is not known to be copied into DNA at any stage of the replication cycle. How could a DNA copy of this virus be produced and be inserted into the host genome? The RNA genome of retroviruses is converted to ...

Ebola virus infection was reported in Phillipine pigs in 2008. This past week it was revealed that the virus was apparently transmitted from Phillipine pigs to a pig farmer. Why do these events bring Nipah virus to mind? The Ebola virus that was found in 4 of 6,000 pigs in ...

On This Week in Virology episode #17, Vincent, Dick, and guest Saul Silverstein talk about discoveries in virology that have had a major impact on the field. By seminal, we mean "strongly influencing later developments". Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #17

In many viral infections, clinical symptoms such as fever, tissue damage, pain, and nausea are a consequence of the immune response. Damage caused by the immune system  is known as immunopathology. For some viruses that do not directly kill cells (non-cytolytic viruses) the immune response is the main cause of ...