TWiV #73 - Entering the ends

On episode #73 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, and Rich discuss multipotent progenitor bone marrow cells as a reservoir of HIV-1, integration of HHV-6 into telomeres, and dispersal of West Nile virus across the US by mosquitoes.

Host links Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, and Rich Condit

Links for this episode:

• HIV-1 infects multipotent progenitor cells
• HHV-6 genome integrates into telomeres
• A role for mosquito-mediated dispersal of West Nile virus across the US
• Using tobacco mosaic virus to produce synthetic photovoltaic cells (thanks Nissin!)
• Animation of HIV replication cycle (thanks Ilya!)
• Can computer viruses evolve? (thanks Norman!)
• Mumps outbreak in Israel (one and two) (thanks Ariel!)
• Bocavirus infections in children (thanks Tyler!)

Weekly science picks:

Dickson Whole-Genome Sequencing in a Patient with Charcot–Marie–Tooth Neuropathy (NEJM and NY Times) Rich Invisible Frontiers: The Race to Synthesize a Human Gene by Stephen Hall Vincent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections - videocasts