Episode 8: Greg Smith discusses the herpes virus

STEM-Talk

Dawn Kernagis and Ken Ford

Natural Sciences, Alternative Health, Science, Health & Fitness, Nutrition

4.7 • 706 Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2016

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Roughly 80 percent of the U.S. population is infected with the herpes virus. While the virus is very easy to get, it remains dormant in many people, who never even know they have it. This is partly because it effectively evades the immune system, taking up refuge in the central nervous system. Dr. Greg Smith is a herpes expert. He is a professor in the microbiology-immunology department at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. His research on herpes looks at novel targets for antivirals and engineering recombinant viral particles as effective gene delivery vehicles. In this episode, Smith talks with STEM-Talk host Dawn Kernagis about his educational and research path to becoming a herpes expert. He also touches on polio as an example of an earlier virus that was largely defeated, and how that was different than herpes. Finally, Smith touches on the development of viral vectors and vaccines to win against the more severe forms of herpes that some people are genetically predisposed to get.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I don't always listen to podcasts, but when I do, I listen to STEM talk, interviewing the most interesting people in the world of science and technology.
0:14.5	Stay curious, my friends.
0:19.8	Welcome to STEM Talk. Stem Talk, STEM Talk, STEM Talk, STEM Talk.
0:21.1	Stem Talk.
0:21.6	Stem Talk.
0:22.6	Stem Talk.
0:23.6	Stem talk.
0:24.6	Welcome to STEM Talk, where we introduce you to fascinating people who passionately inhabit the scientific and technical frontiers of our society.
0:33.6	Hi, I'm your host, Don Kornegas, and today we have Dr. Greg Smith with us, a scientist whose primary object of study is the neuroinvasive herpes virus.
0:43.3	This is an episode of STEM talk to which most of us should pay special attention, as roughly 80% of the population actually carries the virus.
0:50.6	One can probably assume this is also true for the highly esteemed STEM talk listenership as well.
0:56.2	Dr. I'm sorry.
0:57.5	Oh, man.
0:58.5	See, I snuck the zinger in there.
1:03.0	Okay, I'll try that again.
1:06.0	This is going to be a hard when to get there.
1:08.5	There's a few others, Don. Be careful.
1:10.0	Dr. Smith's laboratory studies the neuroinvasive herpes virus with a focus on the molecular
1:15.6	mechanisms by which they propagate and disseminate within the nervous system.
1:19.6	The outcome of infection is closely tied to the route the virus is spread within the nervous system
1:24.6	and can range from no overt disease to blindness or even lethal
1:28.3	encephalitis. Also joining us today is Dr. Ken Ford, IHMC's director and chairman of the Double Secret
	...

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