This Week in Virology #70: Hacking aphid behavior

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Alan Dove

Vincent, Dickson, and Alan consider a broad spectrum antiviral against enveloped viruses, how a plant virus induces chemical signals in the host to maximize its spread, a new way to preserve viral vaccines at tropical temperatures, and the continuing story of XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome.

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Download TWiV #70 (56 MB .mp3, 77 minutes)

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Links for this episode:

• Broad spectrum antiviral against enveloped viruses
• Chemical signals induced by a plant virus attract insect vectors to inferior hosts
• New vaccine technology to make viral vaccines stable at tropical temperatures
• Second UK study fails to find XMRV in chronic fatigue syndrome patients (pdf)
• Nature podcast with Simon Singh and petition (thanks André!)
• Letter on Wolbachia and bees (thanks Tom!)
• Dickson fishing in Argentina (jpg)

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson Chemical Ecology - edited by Thomas Eisner and Jerrold Meinwald
Alan Scripps Center for Mass Spectrometry
Vincent Folding@home (thanks Jesper!)

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