TWiV #25 - Viral evolution

In episode 25 of This Week in Virology, hosts Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove and guest Luis Villarreal discuss rabies in Viet Nam and Angola, needle-stick infections with ebola virus and West Nile virus, and viral evolution.

Links for this episode:

• Furious rabies after an atypical exposure

• Rabies outbreak in Angola

• Ebola virus needle stick injury in Germany

• West Nile virus needle stick injury in South Africa

• Antibody response to smallpox vaccine in humans (including Dr. Villarreal)

• The chemical formula for polio virus is: C332, 652H492, 388N98, 245O131, 196P7, 501S2, 340. Because poliovirus is a quasispecies, the number of atoms is a population average.

• Review article: Ten Reasons to Exclude Viruses from the Tree of Life

• Origin and Evolution of Viruses, second edition, edited by Esteban Domingo

• Origin of Group Identity by Luis Villarreal

Science blog of the week: Small Things Considered by Moselio Schaechter and Merry YouleScience podcast pick of the week: The Skeptics’ Guide to the UniverseScience book of the week: Viruses and the Evolution of Life by Luis Villarreal