Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #TWIV
Most recents (16)
1/few. Attendees of #Nido2023 may be wondering why I am not being allowed to ask questions of the speakers. Attendees should know too that I was denied the right to share our printed scientific articles. No reason given so far except the "instructions of @ProfVolkerThiel" ...
2/few.
So here are the dangerous papers you are not being allowed to see:
independentsciencenews.org/commentaries/a…
and
independentsciencenews.org/health/did-wes…
One reason may be that last week at #ECV2023 Prof Martin Beer, collaborator with @ProfVolkerThiel embarrassed himself with terrible answers to my...
So here are the dangerous papers you are not being allowed to see:
independentsciencenews.org/commentaries/a…
and
independentsciencenews.org/health/did-wes…
One reason may be that last week at #ECV2023 Prof Martin Beer, collaborator with @ProfVolkerThiel embarrassed himself with terrible answers to my...
3/few.
questions, thus exposing his research program as not a fair-minded and objective enquiry into #Covidorigins but a veiled defence of the zoonotic origin.
Here is a link to our discussion:
questions, thus exposing his research program as not a fair-minded and objective enquiry into #Covidorigins but a veiled defence of the zoonotic origin.
Here is a link to our discussion:
Let's examine this thread, looking at tone & substance.
@WendyOrent, an anthropologist, says that "evolutionary theory ... is not your strong point"
Actually, evolution is indeed my strong point e.g.
nature.com/articles/s4156…
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ec…
biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
1/
@WendyOrent, an anthropologist, says that "evolutionary theory ... is not your strong point"
Actually, evolution is indeed my strong point e.g.
nature.com/articles/s4156…
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ec…
biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
1/
"You wouldn't expect super-spreading right off the bat... because an animal virus coming directly into a new species is unlikely to be well-adapted"
Lab-origin theories believe *gain-of-function* work improved transmissibility in vitro.
2/
Lab-origin theories believe *gain-of-function* work improved transmissibility in vitro.
2/
"It takes time to evolve the superspreading events we saw later"
Why can an animal in the wet market be a superspreader, especially a new, intermediate host (pangolin, civet, whatever), but not a human?
Also, we saw HH superspreading instantly
3/
Why can an animal in the wet market be a superspreader, especially a new, intermediate host (pangolin, civet, whatever), but not a human?
Also, we saw HH superspreading instantly
3/
In a new paper led by @annasimsbiol, we find that influenza infections divide your throat into tiny territories, and ask:
why don’t these viruses want to be friends?
Paper doi.org/10.1371/journa…
Commentary doi.org/10.1371/journa…
A 🧵
why don’t these viruses want to be friends?
Paper doi.org/10.1371/journa…
Commentary doi.org/10.1371/journa…
A 🧵
Some background: If two viruses get into the same cell, they can genes exchange (basically they can breed). This is really important for viral evolution. A dramatic example is when different strains of influenza A virus (IAVs) use coinfection to generate pandemic strains
Many viruses actively push back against coinfection, changing an infected cell until it becomes resistant to infection by related viruses. This effect is known as ‘superinfection exclusion’ (SIE)
I am willing to go on any live #OriginOfCovid debate or panel with the Worobey et al. / Proximal Origin authors.
This interview hosted by @ScienceMagazine @AAAS from a year ago is well worth a watch.
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
This interview hosted by @ScienceMagazine @AAAS from a year ago is well worth a watch.
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
If the Proximal Origin crowd wants home field advantage, ask @profvrr to host a live This Week in Virology #TWiV with 2-3 experts per side ie side that says there is dispositive evidence for a market #OriginOfCovid vs side that says both natural & lab hypotheses remain plausible.
@profvrr Since Dr Robert Garry of Proximal Origin was willing to go on @MegynKellyShow to defend his position that the pandemic definitely started at the Wuhan market, his colleagues might consider getting their hypothesis checked on other popular shows/podcasts.
In a new preprint led by @annasimsbiol, we ask:
Why Don’t These Viruses Want to be Friends?
A 🧵...
biorxiv.org/cgi/content/sh…
Why Don’t These Viruses Want to be Friends?
A 🧵...
biorxiv.org/cgi/content/sh…
Coinfection is an important aspect of viral evolution. If two viruses can get into the same cell, they can undergo genetic exchange. A dramatic example of this is when different strains of influenza A virus (IAVs) use coinfection to generate novel pandemic strains
However, many viruses actively push back against coinfection. In a variety of ways, they change an infected cell until it becomes resistant to infection by related viruses. This effect is known as superinfection exclusion (SIE)
What causes multiple sclerosis? We don't know for sure. But it's probably a virus - the same one that causes mono.
A 🧵,also at virology blog. 1/
virology.ws/2022/04/07/a-v…
A 🧵,also at virology blog. 1/
virology.ws/2022/04/07/a-v…
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a prevalent human herpesvirus that is most commonly transmitted through saliva and is well known for causing infectious mononucleosis (i.e., “mono”). 2/
Various recent lines of evidence suggest that EBV infection may also be a risk factor for the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease in which the protective covering of nerves is progressively damaged, leading to severe neurological problems. 3/
After many months of planning and hard work by so many (incl. @hmkyale @Dianaberrent @wade_schulz @CharleszYaleMed @Aaronmring @DaisySMassey @JeffGehlhausen), today, we are launching our research study to understand how vaccination may help improve #longcovid. 🧵 (1/n)
Pls RT🙏🏼
Pls RT🙏🏼
This study will examine how vaccines might improve the symptoms of #LongCovid. We are recruiting people with long covid (PCR+, Ab+, T-test+, or COVID diagnosed by medical doctor) who live in Connecticut, >18 years old, and have not received vaccines yet but are planning to. (2/n)
To participate in this study, you will be asked to complete 4 online surveys and provide blood and saliva 3 times at sites in New Haven Connecticut. If you are interested in participating, please email covidrecovery@yale.edu (3/n)
What happens to the mRNA vaccine particle (Pfizer/Moderna) once it gets injected into your muscle? Short thread based on #TWiV 687. Thanks to @BioProfBarker for the explanation! (1/n)
microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-687/
microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-687/
There are two or three places where it can end up.
1. It can enter some local muscle cells. The vaccine mRNA is translated into protein inside those cells and that protein is recognized by immune cells are foreign, ultimately leading to production of antibodies and T cells. (2/
1. It can enter some local muscle cells. The vaccine mRNA is translated into protein inside those cells and that protein is recognized by immune cells are foreign, ultimately leading to production of antibodies and T cells. (2/
2. It can enter local dendritic cells, which are known as "professional antigen-presenting cells". As soon as the vaccine mRNA is translated into protein inside these cells, that protein will be recognized as foreign... (3/n)
If you have never read one of my articles before, I am begging you to read this one. It describes a strategy for how to end the pandemic and how YOU can help! A thread, also at virology blog. (1/n) virology.ws/2020/08/06/how…
As of today, SARS-CoV-2 has infected 18.7 million people and caused 700,000 deaths worldwide. (2/n)
The most realistic way to quickly curb the spread of the virus would require daily identification and isolation of individuals who are contagious, a process that is hampered by cumbersome sampling and testing methods with slow turnaround times. (3/n)
Some people are super confused about RaTG13, one of the most closely related viruses to SARS-CoV-2, because of how sparse/disjointed its descriptions have been in interviews and papers. I'll try and get the facts straight here as best as I can - based on the data available to me.
The Sunday Times recently confirmed that RaTG13 is actually a sample called RaBtCoV/4991 from this 2016 paper published by the WIV/Shi Zhengli's group. It was renamed and it's not a big deal. Sometimes new naming criteria are implemented. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
In this paper, it's pretty buried, but the source of all the bat CoVs sampled is an "abandoned mineshaft in Mojiang County, Yunnan Province, China". The authors cite this other study by another group including the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20…
I don't know exactly how far along they are in this process (they say late stages, but I don't know what that actually means), but imagine if each school morning we make taking a simple, quick test part of the routine. nytimes.com/2020/07/03/opi…
Imagine if employers who rely on their employees' physical presence require those employees to take a test each morning. Imagine if federal dollars are set aside so that if there's a positive test, your salary is covered until your quarantine period is over.
Imagine if you can send your kid to school, or show up to do work, knowing that those around you have been tested and are clear.
I want to shout this from the rooftops!!! @michaelmina_lab, Harvard epidemiologist, explains a clear, practical solution to the #Covid_19 testing problem on #TWiV - but the FDA won't listen to him. Well worth a listen, but I will summarize what I learned in a short thread. 1/
(Note: my qualification is a PhD in chemical biology. I never studied viruses directly but I have done PCR and can follow the fundamentals of the relevant science.) 2/
Michael Mina's analysis left all the other virologists on the podcast going "Whoa! Wow! What! He's solved it!" to give you a sense of how potent this is. 3/
My personal summary of #TWiV with @michaelmina_lab in 2 pictures: How we test, and how we should. Essentially we have over-fussed to get the highest sensitivity & specificity in #covid19 tests...without worrying about what patients we want to be sensitive for.Let's fix that fast!
Sensitivity is needed when ppl start producing *lots of virus*: that's when they infect others. Don't care if we miss low-dose cases, so we really only need a "low-quality" test (counterintuitive!). The key: at <$1/test we could test daily in rich (level 4 @Gapminder) countries.
If today we miss 75%-95% of #covid19 cases with our expensive, sparsely used tests,even a 100% sensitive test only gives us 5-25% of true cases. By testing everyone, even with a really crappy test that only catches 75% of cases, we would increase by factor 3-15 how many we catch.
TODAY’S UPDATE ON SARS-COV-2 (3/25/20)
Summary of today’s episode of #twiv. The purpose of this episode was to answer YOUR questions! I encourage you to listen to the whole episode yourself! The link is below. (1/n)
microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-594/
Summary of today’s episode of #twiv. The purpose of this episode was to answer YOUR questions! I encourage you to listen to the whole episode yourself! The link is below. (1/n)
microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-594/
[The TWiV team is doing daily searches on PubMed, bioRxiv, and medRxiv for a regular and comprehensive review of the COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 literature]. (2/n)
What’s the deal with antibody tests? Progress is being made on production of antibody tests. The detection of antibodies in your serum could tell you whether you have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the past and whether you are now immune. (3/n)
UPDATE ON SARS-COV-2 (3/22/20)
Summary of #twiv with guest Daniel Griffin, MD, PhD. Dr. Griffin is an infectious disease specialist who is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the NYC area. He’s a regular co-host on TWiV’s sister show #twip. (1/n) microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-593/
Summary of #twiv with guest Daniel Griffin, MD, PhD. Dr. Griffin is an infectious disease specialist who is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the NYC area. He’s a regular co-host on TWiV’s sister show #twip. (1/n) microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-593/
[Note from me: I don’t watch the news. I rely on scientific data. The best resource for reliable scientific information can be found in the primary biomedical literature at PubMed, a search engine maintained by the United States National Library of Medicine at the NIH. (2/n)
The group of doctors and scientists on today’s episode of TWiV have devised a system of sifting through the vast amount of SARS-CoV-2 literature that is readily pouring out on PubMed these days. (3/n)
UPDATE ON SARS-COV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19)
I provide here a bullet point summary of today’s episode of #twiv. I would encourage you to listen to the whole episode yourself! The link is below. (1/18)
microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-591/
I provide here a bullet point summary of today’s episode of #twiv. I would encourage you to listen to the whole episode yourself! The link is below. (1/18)
microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-591/
•Incubation period is on average 5-7 days.
•83% of infections are mild.
•There is no question that there are asymptomatic infections and undetected networks of transmission chains. (2/18)
•83% of infections are mild.
•There is no question that there are asymptomatic infections and undetected networks of transmission chains. (2/18)
The numbers of infections worldwide that we know about today (162,687, the second I type this) only represents the number of people that have been tested, but the number of people actually infected (the denominator) is estimated to be much, much higher. (3/18)
