Cigarette smoking appears to be associated with more severe COVID-19, but the underlying mechanisms have not been deciphered. The results of infection of airway cells in culture with SARS-CoV-2 provide some insight. Smoking is the most important cause of chronic lung disease, which in turn is a risk factor for ...

On this episode of TWiV, mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer show over 90% efficacy, prothrombotic auto-antibodies in serum of COVID-19 patients, and the whereabouts of SARS-CoV-2 in the human body. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 683 (72 MB .mp3, 119 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv

From Expedition 64 of International Space Station, Flight Engineer Kate Rubins joins TWiV to discuss experiments that she is working on, including cell cultures, genome sequencing, and plant growth. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 682 (17 MB .mp3, 29 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv

Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19, Kathleen Crowley explains the role of Environmental Health & Safety departments, update on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in farmed mink, and the presence of pre-existing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in unexposed individuals. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 681 (107 MB .mp3, 179 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become ...

Results on efficacy of the first of the SARS-CoV-2 candidate vaccines has been announced by Pfizer this week. The company states that the viral spike-encoding mRNA vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19. This announcement is good news, but in itself does not signal ...