Description

Paul Bieniasz joins the TWiV team to talk about the co-option, millions of years ago, of an endogenous retrovirus envelope protein by hominid ancestors for host defense against viral infection.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler

Guest: Paul Bieniasz

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

• ASM Grant Writing Online Course
• Bieniasz Laboratory
• Julius S. Youngner, 96
• Distinguished virology career of Julius S. Youngner (TWiV 373)
• Reconstitution of a human ERV (PNAS)
• Co-option of ERV envelope for host defense (eLife)
• Letters read on TWiV 439

Weekly Science Picks

Kathy - UM Science Communication TeachOut
Alan - LLNL nuclear test videos
Rich - The Great A.I. Awakening  (Artificial neural network; DeepDream; DeepDream images)
Dickson - Cassini images
Paul - Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Vincent - Google rewrites search rankings; Senator Whitehouse on politics of climate change

Listener Pick

Anthony - Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Weather Monitor Kit

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees.

Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv