TWiV 1291: A foot in the door for cytomegalovirus

This Week in Virology

Vincent Racaniello

Virology, Twiv, Pathogen, Virus, Microbe, Vincent, Microbiology, Medicine, Science & Medicine, Infectious, Racaniello, Infection

4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 January 2026

⏱️ 118 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

TWiV explains emergence of a neurovirulent double recombinant from the ‘improved’ nOPV2 in Uganda, and efficiency of viral entry determined whether cells are latently or lytically infected with cytomegalovirus. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Support science education at MicrobeTV ASV 2026 Positions in Rosenfeld Lab (email) nOPV2 neurovirulent recombinant in Uganda (Nat Micro) 2023 IMB report on polio eradication Viral entry shapes HCMV latency establishment (Nat Comm) Letters read on TWiV 1291 Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks! Weekly Picks Brianne – Dark Matter by Blake Crouch Rich – Sequoiadendron giganteum; Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park Alan – The Murderbot Diaries book series, by Martha Wells Vincent – Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! Listener Picks Rocky – Cheetah mummies found in cave (Nature, National Geographic) Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This Week in Virology, the podcast about viruses, the kind that make you sick.
0:10.3	From MicropTV, this is Twiv. This week in Virology, episode 1291, recorded on January 23rd, 2026.
0:22.0	I'm Vincent Rackiniello and you're listening to the podcast,
0:25.3	All About Viruses.
0:27.3	Joining me today from Western Massachusetts, Ellen Dove.
0:31.1	Good to be here.
0:32.2	And it is currently 33 Fahrenheit 1C.
0:35.9	Tonight, it's supposed to drop to 1F and then be like in the teens after that.
0:43.6	And of course, Sunday we've got the winter storm rolling in.
0:47.4	They're currently forecasting something like 14 inches or so here, maybe.
0:53.2	Get your wovell out.
0:54.9	Yep, I have been using the wovell already.
0:57.3	We just had a couple of days ago, it was supposed to be less than a half inch, and it was
1:02.7	more like two to three.
1:05.2	So I wovelled that off the driveway, and now I'm probably going to use the electric snowblower
1:09.9	on this. Gets over about a foot.
1:12.7	Is it battery driven? No, no, it's a plug-in. You've got a big long wire. Yeah, and then I use that
1:18.7	as a way to use my generator occasionally. I've got a 1500-watt generator, but, you know, that's
1:26.5	nice for power outages, but then in between those, you actually have to run it occasionally. And I find the electric snowblowers about right for that.
1:33.9	Here in Chelsea, it's 3 degrees Celsius, but it feels like minus 7. It's very cold outside. Also joining us from Austin, Texas, which condit.
1:44.1	Hi there, everybody. The weather here is a little different. It's currently 68 degrees, and
1:53.2	that's fair night, of course, overcast or cloudy, and maybe a little bit of drizzle.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vincent Racaniello, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vincent Racaniello and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.