Shortly after F̩lix d۪Herelle discovered viruses that infect bacteria in 1917 (also found in 1915 by Twort), he recognized their therapeutic potential for treating infections. The discovery of penicillin in 1928 began the golden age of antibiotics, which pushed aside progress in treating infections with bacteriophages. With the advent of ...

Vincent speaks with David Oshinsky, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Polio: An American Story, about the history of poliovirus vaccines. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 553 (40 MB .mp3, 66 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV!

Retroviruses have been infecting vertebrates for over 450 million years. Because retroviral DNA integrates into host cell DNA, the vertebrate genome is littered with remnants of these infections. Some of this retroviral DNA has been co-opted by the cell for a variety of beneficial purposes, such as development of the ...

Team TWiV reveals DNA polymerases that do not require a primer, and packaging of hepatitis delta virus by the envelope glycoproteins of diverse viruses. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 552 (70 MB .mp3, 116 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv

Each year I inform the students in my Columbia University virology course that all known DNA polymerases - viral or cellular - require a primer to initiate DNA synthesis (it€™s even stated in our textbook, Principles of Virology). This statement is no longer true, as shown by the discovery of ...