Vincent Racaniello

"Animal models are not predictors of what will happen in humans. We study infections in animals to obtain mechanistic clues; conclusions about what happens in people require further testing. There are dozens of examples of this in the literature. Drugs and vaccines are tested in several animal models, but are the drugs and vaccines then released for humans? Of course not; clinical trials are done. We've had a great deal of experience in this laboratory constructing viruses with various mutations, and none have ever been more virulent; most are attenuated. The same applies for research done in other laboratories. We have little clue how to make a more virulent virus. Part of the problem is that we focus on amino acid changes in isolation; in nature these are accompanied by hundreds of other changes which are eventually selected in various hosts to make the final pathogen. We don't have a chance at duplicating this and I've never seen any laboratory come close. Just take a look at the..." - Vincent Racaniello

"Very puzzling. Many of the cases have not had contact with poultry. Maybe there is another source that is not being tested? I say send Ian Lipkin in." - Vincent Racaniello

"Influenza A viruses infect a variety of animals, including humans, birds, swine, horses, and dogs. They have sometimes been isolated from cats, tigers and leopards, stone martens and Owston civets, whales, seals, mink, and camels. Serologic evidence also suggests exposure of several ruminant, reptile, and amphibian species to immunogens related to influenza viruses. Why other species are not regularly infected is not known, but sialic acid receptor distribution in the respiratory tract is probably a major determinant. As far as I know no immune mechanisms have been elucidate." - Vincent Racaniello

"I hadn't even thought about DURC when we had that discussion; but of course if you can spot a pandemic 'genotype' then it could be used. This is where the problems of DURC will rear their heads because it's not the kind of information you want to hide. Fortunately we are not there yet." - Vincent Racaniello

"OK, since you asked. The white thing on top is an 8-track digital recorder and mixer. I plug the mics into that, it records everyone on a separate channel, and I can output the mix to the sound system of the room I am in. Also in the bag are microphones (AT831B mini cardioid lavalier mic), which I clip on to the guests shirts; XLR cables to connect the microphones to the mixer; extension cord and power strip. I also bring with me my laptop for reading the show notes and an iPad in case I need an extra source or if the laptop dies. I do about 6 road trips a year for TWiV and do all the setup/breakdown myself. Hectic but it works." - Vincent Racaniello

"I was drinking the Menage a Trois, I think it was the Cab. Fabulous, first time I'd had it." - Vincent Racaniello

"I don't know the answer, but open meat markets are probably not helpful. Infections will still occur in domestic swine and poultry, but at least transmission to humans might be somewhat restricted." - Vincent Racaniello

"Yes of course, thanks for pointing that out. Fixed. Good to have so many error checking readers!" - Vincent Racaniello

"In which animal might H7N9 reassort with H1N1pdm, humans? Swine? (is H7N9 in swine)?" - Vincent Racaniello

"Good question, for which no one has an answer. Obviously something is different about this virus. Two key differences are in HA and PB2 which allow adaptation to human hosts (see this and the previous blog post)." - Vincent Racaniello

"It's a bit out of my expertise, but you are correct. I suppose it's the best way to display the skeleton. But really - can you imagine going to the library to study every day and seeing that skeleton? So cool. The only thing that might be better would be a giant virus sculpture in the lobby." - Vincent Racaniello

"It is so sad when curiosity is lost, because the world is full of enough amazing things for everyone. I presume you have read the Aaron Swartz quote on the post that I linked to above? Perfect." - Vincent Racaniello

"Welcome to TWiV. Glad you like it. Telling us this is very productive for us!" - Vincent Racaniello

"Do you know whether H7N9 viruses circulating in birds are also reassortants with H9N2?" - Vincent Racaniello

"Thanks for the information." - Vincent Racaniello

"No, this is a low pathogenicity virus so it will not be subjecte to the same restriction." - Vincent Racaniello

"Thanks for the correction on the link. I must say that Google+ is really not transparent in many ways. It always takes me a long time to find things and I'm not new at this. As for 'depression', I don't believe it's psychological depression, but behavioral. Here is the full description from a textbook: "Based on their pathogenicity in chickens, avian influenza viruses are classified as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) viruses. LPAI viruses cause mild respiratory disease, depression, and/or a decrease in egg production. For outbreak control purposes, the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) classifies an avian influenza virus as HPAI if it is “lethal for six, seven, or eight of eight 4- to 8-week-old susceptible chickens within 10 days following intravenous inoculation with 0.2 ml of a 1/10 dilution of a bacteria-free, infective allantoic fluid” (OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals 2010; accessible..." - Vincent Racaniello

"This is really the point - how difficult would it have been for EMBL to contact the family? They assumed that the cells are in the public domain which only perpetuates the original mistake of not telling the family about the cells." - Vincent Racaniello

"The fact that an error was made does not justify us to perpetuate it. Skloot's book brought to the attention of the world of the mistakes made and it's important not to continue them. Whether or not the HeLa genome could be assembled as you say is irrelevant. EMBL assumed the cells were in the public domain and this is incorrect." - Vincent Racaniello

"Good question - the HeLa genome is likely very different from the genome of Henrietta Lacks. Exactly how different is unknown, but we do know that one property of malignant cells is an increased mutation rate." - Vincent Racaniello

"Thanks for the link, Brian. Seems like a higher-end pen shop, compared with JetPens, but cool nonetheless." - Vincent Racaniello

"That ProMedMail link should be http://www.promedmail.org/dire..." - Vincent Racaniello

"According to ProMedMail (http://www.promedmail.org/dire... PCV-2 was detected in the pigs from the river. They conclude: "The current reported identification of porcine circovirus PCV2 is, thus, not surprising. On the other hand, its exclusive or main role as the causative agent of the current problem has yet to be established, excluding other candidates such as FMD, CSF, and PRRS." That's foot-and-mouth disease virus, classical swine fever virus, and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus." - Vincent Racaniello

"I am under the impression that PCV-2 can be pathogenic on its own in pigs, although there are certainly asymptomatic infections and exacerbations by co-infection. See for example http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu...." - Vincent Racaniello

"Interesting. PEDV is no joke either: it causes severe enteritis, vomiting, watery diarrhea, and weight loss and is generally bad for the swine industry because the mortality rates are high. Do we know whether the circovirus found in the pigs was PCV-1 or PCV-2? Most pigs have the former and it's not pathogenic. Those of us who eat pork consume PCV-1 on a regular basis. Either way it was a good reason to write about circoviruses." - Vincent Racaniello

"Zaki's sacking is absurd. He did the opposite of what China did when SARS first emerged: tried to hide it. As Martin Enserink wrote in this week's Science (10 year anniversary of SARS): "Although SARS painfully demonstrated that sweeping an epidemic under the rug is counterproductive, few people believe that this age-old reflex won't occur again."" - Vincent Racaniello

"I had meant to say that we don't know if the virus replicates in kidney. Text clarified to reflect this." - Vincent Racaniello

"You should put your lecture online - it will make you improve them! I know I give my lectures knowing that the world is listening, and I try to improve them each year." - Vincent Racaniello

"Prions do not contain DNA. However, prions are proteins and they are encoded in the DNA of the organism. So the existence of prions does in no way refute the idea that DNA is the genetic material." - Vincent Racaniello