TWiV 272: Give peas a chance

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , Alan Dove , Rich Condit , and Kathy Spindler The TWiV team describes aphid control by using a viral capsid protein to deliver a spider toxin to plants, and a human endogenous retrovirus that enhances expression of a neuronal gene. Links for this episode Toxin delivery to plants by viral capsid protein (Nat Biotech) Pea enation mosaic virus (ViralZone) Image credit: Aphid membrane feeding chamber (Sci Rep) Aphid feeding chamber (YouTube) Parafilm (Wikipedia) Human endogenous retrovirus enhances neural gene (PNAS) Flu, common cold , alternative medicine (NCCAM) Cold vs flu (CDC) Phage hunters Bed bugs and infectious disease (PLoS Path) Letters read on TWiV 272 Weekly Science Picks Alan - Statistical error (Nature) Rich - 12 oldest animal species Dickson - When liquids collide Vincent - HIV denial and just asking questions K athy - Sun's canyon of fire Listener Pick of the Week Sandra - Women physicists keep female students psyched Judi - HHMI's Biointeractive Jacob - Influenza virus HA Send your virology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]