Tags
autism biodefense biotechnology blogging computers diving dovdox blog drinking entomology environment epidemiology film fishing flu Food fun hack ham radio health hobbies humor hype journalism links microbiology mosquitoes new york open access photography politics public health public policy research news science science policy science publishing technology tools twiv vaccine vaccines virology viruses web development writingCategories
Yes, I’m on Twitter
Blogroll
Utilities
Tag Archives: virology
A Chat with Mike Osterholm
I got a call last night from Mike Osterholm, noted epidemiologist and member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB). He wanted to talk about H5N1 flu – if you don’t know why, scroll down to the previous … Continue reading
Some Unsolicited Debate Coaching for Tonight’s Speakers
The New York Academy of Sciences is hosting a panel discussion tonight about H5N1 influenza, “dual-use” research, and scientific censorship. Of course this stems from the ongoing debate about the alleged development of mammal-adapted H5N1 strains (see my earlier summaries … Continue reading
The Day the Science Died
This afternoon, a coalition of influenza virologists released a statement saying that they are voluntarily suspending research on H5N1 “bird flu” for 60 days. This was in response to the Category 5 hype storm that has accompanied the publication of … Continue reading
XMRV and CFS: Were Mistakes Made?
On Monday, Retrovirology published four papers about XMRV, a virus that has quickly become a celebrity for its putative association with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and prostate cancer. The papers – and an accompanying overview – describe several lines of … Continue reading
XMRV: Cause or Bystander?
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV), previously best known for showing how an awkward name can turn into an awesome abbreviation, has now become the hot new pathogen for virologists to hunt. As mentioned in numerous media outlets, some researchers … Continue reading
TWiV “Live” from Philadelphia
The ASM folks did an excellent job editing the first video episode of “This Week in Virology.” We did this show on a stage in the ASM conference press room in Philadelphia last week. The actual live audience didn’t exactly … Continue reading
TWiV Hits the Big Time
The podcast This Week in Virology has now reached the “featured” page at the front of the “Science and Medicine > Medicine” category on iTunes. Apparently, there are a lot of folks out there who love to hear a few … Continue reading
Green Mice, Hantavirus, and The “20/80 Rule”
An old epidemiological rule of thumb says that for any given contagious disease, 20% of the population will be responsible for 80% of the disease spread. The numbers are certainly not exact, it’s just a way of stating a commonly … Continue reading
TWiV 12 Goes Live, Big Time
The latest episode of This Week in Virology just went online, and the high-traffic site Microbeworld has promoted the podcast on its front page. Of course, this coincides with a glitch in the podcast feed, so iTunes users should check … Continue reading
What Did Bob Gallo Do To The Nobel Committee?
In this age of scientific teamwork, international collaborations, and discoveries that always seem to arise simultaneously in multiple labs, the Nobel prize is an anachronism. By limiting each prize to no more than three recipients, the Nobel committee virtually guarantees … Continue reading