TWiV 1195: Dickson Despommier, parasitologist without borders

The entire TWiV team comes together to pay tribute to Dickson Despommier, then reviews antibodies to H5N1 virus in veterinarians working with dairy cattle, Elisabeth Bik donates prize money for data integrity analyses, measles outbreak in Texas, and use of an alternative genetic code by human microbiome phages.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler, Brianne Barker, Daniel Griffin, Angela Mingarelli, and Jolene Ramsey

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Links for this episode

• Support science education at MicrobeTV
• ASV 2025
• Livestream tribute to Dickson (Office Hours)
• Dickson’s Wikipedia page
• Dickson’s obituary (NY Times)
• Dickson websites: trichinella.org, thelivingriver.org, fordhamopolis.com, despommierphotoart.com
• Alan’s tribute to Dickson (alandove.com)
• H5N1 seroprevalence (MMWR)
• Elisabeth Bik donates prize money (Science)
• Measles outbreak in Texas (Texas DSHS)
• Human microbiome phages use alternative genetic code (Nat Comm)
• Letters (mostly not) read on TWiV 1195 – all about Dickson
• Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Angela – Rare spotting of humpback anglerfish “diablo negro” (Melanocetus johnsonii) in Tenerife, Canary Islands. First time ever observed alive! Brianne – Moonwalking with Einstein inspired by reading NY Times article about Recent memory champ Kathy – Witness History 9 minute podcasts Rich – APOD: Perijove 11: Passing Jupiter Alan –  Ecological succession on abandoned farmland Jolene –  Parasitic Diseases Lectures and first 27 episodes of This Week in Parasitism Vincent – The New City

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.