Author Archives: David Esteban

Your personal genome sequence

Posted on December 27, 2012 by David Esteban

As a bonus question on their final exam, I asked my intro biology students whether or not they would want to have their genome sequenced. The question was:
It is already possible to get your whole genome sequenced and it wont … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Getting all the right pieces together to make an Influenza virus particle

Posted on October 9, 2012 by David Esteban

Influenza virus and a few other viruses have segmented genomes. Most viruses carry their genetic information on a single piece of DNA or RNA, but influenza has 8 pieces. You can think of this as analogous to our chromosomes: we … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

An epidemic of fear

Posted on September 18, 2012 by David Esteban

How does fear of epidemic disease influence the spread of disease?  In the movie “Contagion” we see many examples of how individuals and governments respond to an epidemic.  There is panic, people fleeing cities, people isolating themselves in their homes, … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Epidemics | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Fever!

Posted on September 11, 2012 by David Esteban

Most viral infections start out with the same general symptoms: fever, malaise, aches. Those are usually the sign of your immune system starting to fight back. Fever is one of our defense mechanisms, and while it can be quite uncomfortable … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Evolution, Immunology, Pathogenesis | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

It’s a slime mold, not a cupcake

Posted on July 13, 2012 by David Esteban

Slime molds look kind of like vomit but they are pretty awesome.  In fact, one of them is affectionately nicknamed “dog vomit slime mold.”  While vacationing in British Columbia, my 2 year old son, exploring in the trees and shrubs, … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Teaching and Research, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Giant dsDNA Virus Origins: Megaviridae Evolutionary Analysis

Posted on May 16, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Katy Hwang ’12
The discovery of the double stranded DNA (dsDNA) virus, Mimivirus, and the subsequent discovery of related Megavirus confounded the size limits of viral particles and the complexity of viral genomes. They are larger or … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Evolution | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

H5N1 Ferret Transmission Experiment Published

Posted on May 3, 2012 by David Esteban

At last, one of the papers investigating H5N1 influenza transmission in ferrets has been published in the journal Nature yesterday.  To recap the controversy briefly:  news of experimental studies investigating transmissibility of avian H5N1 influenza hit the news this fall, … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Epidemics, Evolution, Molecular Virology, Pathogenesis | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Mouse Pneumonia: Are We to Blame?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Alix Zongrone ’12
Pneumonia virus of mice, or PVM, is the leading cause of pneumonia in laboratory mice; however, lack of evidence of PVM in wild rodents has left scientists in the dark with regards to the … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Guest Blogger, Immunology, Pathogenesis | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

After many setbacks, cross-presentation provides new hope for a Herpes Simplex Virus 1 vaccine

Posted on April 27, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Stephanie Mischell ’12
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is making news due to a paper by Jing et al identifying two promising new candidate antigens for a vaccine. HSV-1 is a widespread public health issue, infecting … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Guest Blogger, Immunology, Vaccines | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Luring HIV out of its latency may be the secret to developing an effective HIV cure

Posted on April 19, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Steven Chan ‘12
The emergence of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the treatment of HIV-infected individuals has certainly changed the outlook of an HIV diagnosis today, compared to what such an outlook looked like in the … Continue reading →

Share
Posted in Antiviral Drugs, Epidemics, Immunology, Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments