Virology
Mouse model for hepatitis C virus infection?
By Vincent Racaniello | | Information
No, not yet. But the recent identification of human occludin as a cell protein required for entry of hepatitis C virus into mouse cells is a huge step in the right direction. Small animal models for virus infection are of great value for studying viral pathogenesis, testing new vaccines, and developing antiviral drugs. However, mice …
Cosavirus – a new human picornavirus
By Vincent Racaniello | | Information
The WHO strategy to eradicate poliomyelitis depends upon immunization of every child under 5 years of age, and nationwide AFP (acute flaccid paralysis) surveillance to identify cases of poliomyelitis. A laboratory network then determines whether AFP is caused by poliovirus. Recently a new member of the picornavirus family was identified in children with non-poliovirus AFP. …
Ebola virus glycoprotein antagonizes tetherin
By Vincent Racaniello | | Information
The innate response to virus infection is a marvel: when confronted with an invading microbe, it responds rapidly by producing interferons and other cytokines which establish an antiviral state. Its effectiveness is underscored by the fact that every viral genome must encode countermeasures that modulate its activity. A recent paper in PNAS adds another mechanism …
TWiV #18: Can a virus make you fat?
By Vincent Racaniello | | Information
On This Week in Virology #18, Vincent, Dick, and Alan discuss adenovirus type 36 and obesity, new influenza antiviral drugs, viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus of fish, and Ebola virus in pigs and pig farmers in the Phillipines. Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #18
Viruses and obesity?
By Vincent Racaniello | | Information
The past week brought an animated discussion triggered by an article in Obesity which reported the adipogenic effect of adenovirus type 36 infection in cultured cells. The press had a field day with headlines like ‘Can a common cold virus really make you fat’?. Reactions on Twitter and blogs ranged from disbelief to outrage to …
Innate sensors of DNA
By Vincent Racaniello | | Information
The innate immune system responds within minutes of infection to produce type I interferons and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Interferons induce the synthesis of cell proteins with antiviral activity, and also shape the adaptive immune response by priming T cells. Despite the discovery of interferons over 50 years ago, only recently have we begun to understand how …
David Tuller
Trial By Error: Anil van der Zee’s New Video on Living with Severe ME
By David Tuller, DrPH *This is a crowdfunding month for Trial By Error. Donations (tax-deductible to US tax-payers) go to the University of Calinfornia, Berkeley, to support the project. The link to the crowdfunding campaign is here: https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/42302 ********** Anil van der Zee and I first connected in 2016, when he invited me to Amsterdam to …
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Trial By Error: Time’s Health100 List Includes Leaders in Long Covid and ME/CFS
By David Tuller, DrPH *This is a crowdfunding month for Trial By Error. Donations (tax-deductible to US tax-payers) go to the University of Calinfornia, Berkeley, to support the project. The link to the crowdfunding campaign is here: https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/42302 Last week, Time magazine unveiled a list called the TIME100 Health—a selection of “leaders from across industries—scientists, doctors, …
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Trial By Error: A Conversation with the Co-Founders of The Sick Times
By David Tuller, DrPH *This is a crowdfunding month for Trial By Error. Donations (tax-deductible to US tax-payers) go to the University of Calinfornia, Berkeley, to support the project. The link to the crowdfunding campaign is here: https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/42302 Journalists Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis are the co-founders of The Sick Times, a non-profit that covers …
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Trial By Error: Interview with Co-Organizator of Next Week’s Unite To Fight Long Covid and ME/CFS Conference
By David Tuller, DrPH *This is a crowdfunding month at Berkeley for Trial By Error. If you appreciate my work, here’s a link to donate (tax-deductible to US taxpayers) directly to the university: https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/42302 ********** Marco Wetzel, a digital sales expert, is one of five German Long Covid patients who banded together earlier this year …
Trial By Error: Berkeley’s May Crowdfunding Campaign Begins…
By David Tuller, DrPH Berkeley’s latest crowdfunding campaign for Trial By Error begins today. It is hard for me to believe that I have been working on this project—debunking awful research into what was then called “chronic fatigue syndrome,” and related issues–for ten years. My efforts began in the summer of 2014, when I traveled …
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Trial By Error: Australian GP Group Recommends “Incremental Physical Activity” for “CFS/ME” Patients
By David Tuller, DrPH What’s going on with Aussie members of the graded exercise therapy cult? (Oops!—I meant the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, a trade and professional organization. Sorry!) In 2019, I wrote about the organization’s guidance for “CFS/ME.” This guidance, published in 2015, was part of the group’s Handbook of Non-Drug Interventions …