TWiV #206 - Viral turducken

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

Vincent, Alan, Dickson, and Kathy discuss how the innate immune response to viral infection influences the production of pluripotent stem cells, and the diverse mobilome of giant viruses.

Links for this episode:

• Innate immunity and nuclear reprogramming (Cell)
• Viruses affect cell reprogramming (The Scientist)
• Cell-penetrating peptides (Trends Mol Med)
• Provirophages and transpovirons (PNAS)
• Organic Lake photo and map
• Letters read on TWiV 206

Weekly Science Picks

Alan - Locust by Jeffery A. LockwoodDickson - Nikon Small World Contest 2012Kathy - Influenza EncyclopediaVincent - Dengue fever sweeps India (NY Times)

Listener Pick of the Week

Allison - Fred Guterl on The Daily Show

Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected].