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TWIV 15 - Deer mice, Spanish flu, measles and antiviral resistance

In episode 15 of This Week in Virology, hosts Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Professor of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences (and Microbiology) at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and Alan Dove, Ph.D., science writer and blogger, converse about hantavirus spread by large deer mice, why the 1918 influenza virus replicates in the lower respiratory tract, measles in Europe, and the growing resistance of influenza virus to antivirals..

This episode's links include:

Science blog of the week: Molecule of the Day.
Science podcast pick of the week: Meet the Scientist by Merry Buckley.
Science books of the week: The Great Influenza by John M. Barry and The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin - published 150 years ago.

Please send your virology questions and comments to twiv [at] twiv [dot] tv.

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to TWIV via iTunes, through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader, or by email.

Meet the Scientist – Moselio Schaechter, Ph.D.

Moselio Schaechter – known as Elio to his friends – is Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Emeritus, at the Tufts University School of Medicine, and he’s currently an adjunct professor at San Diego State University and at the University of California at San Diego. Dr. Schaechter has had a long career in bacteriology and has authored or co-authored a number of text books, and is a former president of the American Society for Microbiology. He lives in sunny San Diego now, where he lectures, attends meetings, and writes his blog, “Small Things Considered”.

If you want an example of the ways the internet has changed public discourse, look to the blogs. After all, how many blogs did you read 10 years ago? Blogs give authors a bullhorn free from profit-driven publishers, provide people with ideas, and even build communities through reader discourse. To be sure, not every blog is interesting or even readable, but there are many bloggers out there working hard and stimulating some profound discussions.

Those of us interested in the life microscopic are lucky to have Dr. Schaechter, who muses on the topics of interest to him and acts as host to other eminent scientists who write guest essays. With Small Things Considered, his goal is to express his own interest in various subjects while encouraging interest in others and kindling conversation and debate.

In Dr. Merry Buckley’s interview with Dr. Schaechter, they talk about what he gets out of being a blogger, what makes for a successful blog, and about how mushroom hunting in xeric Southern California usually involves a lot of hunting and few mushrooms.

Blogs and Websites mentioned in this episode include:

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to Dr. Merry Buckley's Meet the Scientist podcast via iTunes, through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader, or by email alert.

TWIV 14 - Common cold, H5N1 transmission, HIV denile, Ebola

In episode 14 of This Week in Virology, Vincent Racaniello and science writer Alan Dove, Ph.D., discuss discuss a viral upper respiratory tract infection, transmission of H5N1 influenza virus, death of an HIV denialist, and the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This episode's links include:

  • PLoS Pathogens paper on transmission of H5N1 influenza virus.
  • Ebola outbreak in DRC reported by ProMedMail.
  • Death of HIV denialist.
  • BioCrowd, a network for bioscientists.
  • Molecules, the iPhone/iPod Touch app to display molecules.

Science blog of the week: ViroBlogy
Science podcast pick of the week: Astronomy Cast
Science book of the week: The Cutter Incident by Paul A. Offit, MD

Please send your virology questions and comments to twiv [at] twiv [dot] tv.

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to TWIV via iTunes, through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader, or by email.

Meet the Scientist: Joel Sussman, Ph.D.

Joel Sussman, Ph.D. is a professor of structural biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. In his research, Dr. Sussman is interested in elucidating the structures and functions of proteins, particularly those involved in the nervous system. He is also the lead scientist behind Proteopedia – a new online protein structure encyclopedia.

Scientific endeavors have historically been a one-way street: an investigator or lab makes a discovery, then delivers the good news to the rest of the community via publication. Nowadays, computers and the internet are enabling easier and more seamless means of collaboration and communication. Proteopedia, with which Dr. Sussman is greatly involved, automatically gathers and compiles information from multiple curated sources of information, but its more revolutionary side is the wiki tool, which enables registered users to contribute information themselves.

In this interview with Dr. Sussman, Dr. Merry Buckley talks with him about his work with acetylcholinesterase and “intrinsically unstructured proteins,” and about Proteopedia – how it works and about the possibility of misinformation making its way onto the site.

There is also a supplemental video for this episode that shows Proteopedia in action. It is narrated by Eran Hodis, the graduate student, who, together with Professors Jaime Prilusky & Joel L. Sussman developed Proteopedia at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to Dr. Merry Buckley's Meet the Scientist podcast via iTunes, through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader, or by email alert.

TWIV 13 - Top 10 Virology Stories of 2008

In episode 13 of This Week in Virology, Vincent Racaniello and science writer Alan Dove, Ph.D., discuss President-elect Obama’s choices for his science advisors, SARS sensationalism, a new enteric picornavirus, and the top 10 virology stories of 2008.

This episode's links include:

TWiV’s top 10 virology stories of 2008:

1. Nobel Prize in Medicine to Montagnier, Barré-Sinoussi, and zur Hause

2. AIDS elite controllers partly explained

3. Cancellation of PAVE HIV-1 vaccine trial

4. Gut homing receptor for HIV-1

5. New Ebola strain

6. New mosquito virus

7. How mosquitoes survive virus infection

8. Mouse model for Chikungunya

9. Genome sequences of 150 avian influenza virus strains

10. Understanding the RS virus vaccine failure

Science blog of the week: Aetiology

Science podcast pick of the week: biobytes

Science book of the week: Principles of Virology, 3rd Edition by Flint, Enquist, Racaniello, and Skalka. Details on how to win a free copy here.

Please send your virology questions and comments to twiv [at] twiv [dot] tv.

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to TWIV via iTunes, through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader, or by email.

Meet the Scientist: Nancy Keller, Ph.D.

Album Art for Meet the Scientist Podcast Episode 12 featuring Nancy KellerNancy Keller is a professor of Bacteriology and Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A mycologist, Dr. Keller works with a genus of fungi called Aspergillus – many of which are potent plant and human pathogens that produce deadly mycotoxins. Her research focuses on finding those aspects of Aspergillus species that make them effective as pathogens and toxin factories.

Tiny fungi cause big problems for agriculture and human health, and the U.S. alone spends millions of dollars every year to fight the fungi that attack crops. Aspergillus fungi, in particular, cause a problem for crop plants themselves, but the bigger concern is the mycotoxins they produce: aflatoxin is one of the most potent naturally-occurring toxins ever discovered. What’s more, aflatoxin and other Aspergillus toxins are carcinogenic. The bottom line? Exposure to large amounts of these fungal toxins can kill you quickly, and exposure to small amounts can kill you slowly.

On this episode, Dr, Merry Buckley talks with Dr. Keller about her work with Aspergillus, why we don’t even know how big the fungal toxin problem is, how reproduction and toxin-making are linked in these fungi, and how we may eventually use viruses as weapons against pathogenic fungi.

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to Dr. Merry Buckley's Meet the Scientist podcast via iTunes, through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader, or by email alert.

TWIV 12 - Prions, lemur lentiviruses, RS virus
vaccine, H5N1

MicrobeWorld is excited to welcome This Week in Virology to it's growing family of podcasts. Hosts Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D., Higgins Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Dickson D. Despommier, Ph.D., Professor of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences (and Microbiology) at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, produce a weekly show about viruses - the kind that make you sick. Racaniello and Despommier deconstruct viruses, explore how they cause illness, and provide advice on how you can avoid getting infected by them.

In this episode, Vincent Racaniello is joined by science writer Alan Dove, Ph.D., and doctoral student Angela Rasmussen. Vincent, Alan, and Angela discuss Kuru, prions in milk, ancient lentiviruses found in the chromosomes of lemurs, a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine failure in the 1960s, and recent outbreaks of H5N1 influenza in chickens.

This episode's links include:


Please send your virology questions and comments to twiv [at] twiv [dot] tv. Let us know what you think were the top virology stories of 2008.

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to TWIV via iTunes, through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader of your choice, or by email.

 

MicrobeWorld Video Ep. 25 - Bacteria Lab


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What kinds of bacteria are growing in your sink or your refrigerator? How about on your keyboard at work? Does your soap really reduce the amount of bacteria on your hands?


Dr. Keith Lampel of the Food and Drug Administration helps citizen scientists discover the world of bacteria in and around us.

Filmed at the Marian Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C., this two-part science lab kicked off with a hands-on activity in the museum to observe the invisible bacteria that are present all around us. Attendees were shown how to prepare samples in the museum and took lab supplies with them for further investigation in their homes, offices and schools.For the second part of program, participants shared their scientific endeavors from the previous week as Dr. Lampel answered their questions and discussed recent research at the FDA, new technologies, and new initiatives in food safety.

Dr. Keith Lampel is the Director of the Division of Microbiology within the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). His research interests include the development of rapid detection methods for food-borne pathogens using DNA-based technology, and identifying the genes in these bacteria that are involved in the development of disease.

MicrobeWorld Video Recieves "Best Podcast" in PRNews 2008 NonProfit Awards

MicrobeWorld Video has been honored with a non-profit public relations award from PRNews for its public outreach initiative. The award was announced in Washington, DC, on December 4, 2008.

MicrobeWorld Video received "Best Podcast" for 2008. Launched in April 2007, the online video series strives to increase public understanding and appreciation of the vital role microbes play on our planet. Since then the series has featured over 20 episodes, with topics ranging from the West Nile virus to how modern transportation has spread disease that have attracted over 1.3 million views.

We are very pleased to receive this recognition from our peers in the non-profit world that acknowledges the quality and success of our new media efforts. And, we are excited that visitors to our site keep coming back to watch new episodes or subscibe to our show in iTunes. We'd also like to recognize the Marian Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C. for sponsoring many of our episodes. If you are ever in the Nation's Capitol you should stop by and explore their fantastic exhibit on infectious disease.

The PRNews Nonprofit PR Awards recognize the top talent, the innovators and passionate professionals who day in, day out are making communications matter in the nonprofit public relations marketplace. The awards are presented by PRNews, the leading trade publication among communicators worldwide. The winners in this year's awards program included PR professionals from nonprofits, corporations and PR firms large and small.

 

Meet the Scientist: Daniel J. Lew, Ph.D.

Daniel Lew is a professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology and of Genetics at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. His research program focuses on cell cycle control in yeast, and how the cell cycle interacts with cell polarity.

Yeast cells may look simple, but inside every little single-cell package lurks an intricate creature that senses and responds cunningly to its surroundings. Dr. Lew has uncovered many of the secrets of the tiny yeast, and since yeast bear a striking resemblance to human cells, some of these facts could help us eventually conquer our own problems with the cell cycle, including cancer – a kind of cell division gone wild.

In this interview, Dr. Merry Buckley talks with Dr. Lew about how a yeast cell knows when to say “when” during budding, why he studies yeast at a medical school, and where his hard-to-discern accent really comes from (hint: it’s not a North Carolina accent).

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to Dr. Merry Buckley's Meet the Scientist podcast via iTunes or through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader of your choice.

MicrobeWorld Video Ep. 24 - An Iconography of Contagion


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In this episode of MicrobeWorld Video we visit the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., for the opening of "An Iconography of Contagion," an art exhibition featuring more than 20 public health posters from the 1920s to the 1990s. Covering infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS, gonorrhea, and syphilis, the posters come from North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

This video features interviews with J.D. Talasek, Director of Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences, and Michael Sappol, Ph.D., Curator-Historian for the National Library of Medicine, along with several of the opening's attendees, on their impressions and thoughts of how public health promotion and education have changed over the decades.

The presentation of the posters along with comments provided by Talasek and Sappol provide insight into the interplay between the public's understanding of disease and society's values. The exhibit reflects the fears and concerns of the time and also the medical knowledge that was available. Considered an art form, many of the posters are beautiful and entertaining, but during their heyday, they sought to educate people on matters of life and death.

The exhibition is free and open to the public weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until December 19, 2008. The National Academy of Sciences is located at 2101 Constitution Ave., NW, in Washington, D.C. Visitors enter at 2100 C St., N.W. The gallery is located upstairs.

For those who can't make it to the Nation's Capitol, but would like more information, please feel free to download the exhibit's brochure.

 

Meet the Scientist: Anthony Maurelli, Ph.D.

Tony Maurelli is a professor of microbiology and immunology in the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Maurelli's major research interest lies in the genetics of bacterial pathogenesis - the genetic nuts and bolts of how bacteria infect humans and make us sick.

Dr. Maurelli's work has uncovered "antivirulence genes" in Shigella flexneri, a major cause of dysentery and food borne illness. This is an interesting concept: antivirulence genes undermine pathogenicity, so they must be broken or dropped from the genome for a bacterium to take good advantage of a host and cause disease. These genes are a hindrance, so to become an effective pathogen, Shigella must stop using them.

In this interview, Dr. Merry Buckley talks with Dr. Maurelli about antivirulence genes, about whether the naming system for bacteria should be fixed, and about his favorite bacteria.

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to Dr. Merry Buckley's Meet the Scientist podcast via iTunes or through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader of your choice.

 

Small Things Considered - Teachers' Corner

Small Things Considered - Teachers' CornerThe American Society for Microbiology's blog Small Things Considered by Elio Schaechter and Merry Youle has inaugurated a Teachers’ Corner. Here, they have grouped selected articles from their archives into categories that approximate those found in a microbiology course. Since the blog's inception in Nov. 2006, many educators have assigned blog articles for “intellectual enrichment,” for student discussions and presentations, or as suggested topics for term papers. Following these categorical listings are “Talmudic Questions” — questions whose answers cannot be readily Googled. These topics are suitable for graduate student qualifying exams and the likes.

The authors would like to see material from Small Things Considered used extensively for teaching purposes and also encourage students to write for the blog. Over time they have published the writings (both solo and group efforts) of very gifted students.

Please take a look at this great resource and feel free to give Elio and Merry your feedback.

 

MicrobeWorld Radio is Off the Air

MicrobeWorld Podcast logoAs of Monday, November 17, 2008, the MicrobeWorld Radio daily 90 second audio podcast has ended. There will be no more episodes for the foreseeable future, although all past episodes are still available.

The reason is that MicrobeWorld Radio has become too expensive to produce and distribute on a daily basis for public radio stations. In case you didn't know, MicrobeWorld Radio was heard on 90 plus stations in the United States. But not to worry, we have been busy creating new podcast content with more in-depth interviews with scientists and researchers who work with microbes.

One of our new audio podcasts is called Meet the Scientist with Dr. Merry Buckley. For this show we want to reveal more about scientists, the work they do, and what makes them tick. We ask them what they're up to now and what's on the horizon. How is the science moving forward to solve problems? What keeps them going in a tough, competitive field? What do they see for the future of research, education, and training? We hope to show you a glimpse of what scientists are really like and what's going on in cutting-edge microbiology today. Meet the scientist is published every two weeks - sometimes more frequently.

The other podcast we have been producing for sometime now is MicrobeWorld Video, a monthly series that includes issues in microbiology and infectious disease research, events and meetings, profiles of individual researchers, and more. Currently, MicrobeWorld Video is one of the top science and medicine video podcasts in iTunes.

So with that said, we would like to introduce you to Meet the Scientist by inserting a few of our recent episodes into the MicrobeWorld Radio feed over the next few days. Over time, we will combine the RSS feeds for both shows.

If you ever want to listen to an old episode of MicrobeWorld Radio they all have been archived and correlated with the National Science Education Standards in a searchable database.

For the regular subscriber to MicrobeWorld Radio, you don't have to do anything but give Meet the Scientist a chance and continue to listen. We also encourage you to check out MicrobeWorld Video in the iTunes store.

Thank you for your loyalty and understanding. If you have any questions or comments, please email them to us at microbe (at) asmusa (dot) org. We're happy to respond.

Meet the Scientist: Stanley Falkow, Ph.D.

Meet the Scientist Ep. 9 -Stanley Falkow

Stanley Falkow is a professor of Microbiology & Immunology at the Stanford School of Medicine. His research interests lie in bacterial pathogenesis – how bacteria cause infection and disease – and over the course of his career he has contributed fundamental discoveries to the field. Falkow received the Lasker prize this year for special achievement in medical science, and the Lasker Foundation calls him “one of the great microbe hunters of all time”.

Molecular techniques (methods of analysis that rely on bacterial DNA) are now widely used for infectious disease diagnosis, thanks in large part to Falkow, who was among the first to apply an understanding of genes and virulence determinants to analyzing patient samples. He has published extensively in areas ranging from antibiotic resistance to food borne illness to microarrays.

In this interview, Dr. Merry Buckley talked with Dr. Falkow about his prescient concerns about the dangers of using antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock, why Salmonella is so good at making you sick, and why students who are interested in science should follow their passion.

To listen, click the play button next to the title of this entry. You can subscribe for free to Dr. Merry Buckley's Meet the Scientist podcast via iTunes or through the RSS feed with a podcast aggregator or feed reader of your choice.

 

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