Small animal models (mice, ferrets, hamsters) are essential for understanding how SARS-CoV-2 causes disease and for pre-clinical evaluation of vaccines and antiviral therapeutics. One promising model has been developed by modifying SARS-CoV-2 so that it binds to murine ACE2. Laboratory mice cannot be infected with SARS-CoV-2 because the viral spike ...

Raul Rabadan joins TWiV to explain the use of computational biology to demonstrate how recombination and mutation led to emergence of SARS-CoV-2. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 619 (43 MB .mp3, 72 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv

Daniel Griffin provides a clinical update on COVID-19, then we review TETRIS by Paterson NJ, modeling the effects of intervention in the US on cases and deaths, mixing PCR and serology data, and much more, including listener email. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 617 (91 MB .mp3, 152 min) Subscribe ...

Some evidence suggests that cigarette smokers are more likely to develop severe COVID-19 disease than non-smokers. Chronic smoke exposure appears to trigger the expansion of cell types in the respiratory tract that produce ACE2, the receptor for SARS-CoV-2. This observation provides a plausible hypothesis to explain why cigarette smokers might ...

Vincent, Kathy and Rich discuss COVID-19 research paper overload, Moderna's mRNA vaccine Phase I results, increase of ACE2 RNA by cigarette smoke, and answer listener questions. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 616 (62 MB .mp3, 103 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv