Category Archives: Molecular Virology

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 →

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

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 →

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Posted in Epidemics, Evolution, Molecular Virology, Pathogenesis | Tagged , , , | 3 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 →

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

Zinc ionophores block the replication of nidovirus

Posted on April 10, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Brian Lu ’13
Zinc ions function in many different cellular processes and have been shown to play important roles in the proper folding and activity of various cellular enzymes and transcription factors, but zinc ion concentrations are … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger, Molecular Virology | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Natural Resistance: How Your Genes Can Determine The Severity of Your Influenza Infection

Posted on April 6, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Jared Saunders ’13
Every winter, the general public frantically agonizes over influenza prevention and protection. But is the purchase of hand sanitizer in bulk and tissue boxes by the dozen really necessary? After all, many people don’t … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger, Immunology, Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Polydnavirus: Good for the Parasitic Wasp, Bad for the Host Caterpillar

Posted on March 23, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Jason Adler 
An endoparasitoid wasp would disagree with the popular perception of viruses as malevolent. Parasitoids are organisms that spend a substantial portion of their life cycle in the host; unlike a parasite, a parasitoid usually kills … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger, Immunology, Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Discovery of an Ebola-like virus in Spain

Posted on October 26, 2011 by David Esteban

Fans of Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone will know Ebola virus and Marburg virus as ones that causes their victims to die a horrific death, bleeding from every opening and turning organs into a bloody pulpy mess. Ebola outbreaks … Continue reading →

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Posted in Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Taking control of the host to spread virus laden goo

Posted on October 21, 2011 by David Esteban

Viruses are experts at hijacking cells to replicate, manipulating the conditions in the cell to optimize viral processes. But they manipulate their hosts on a higher level too, sometimes manipulating host behaviour to increase the chances of transmission. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Evolution, Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Broad Spectrum Antiviral is an Effective Inhibitor of Viruses but Not Media Hype

Posted on August 17, 2011 by David Esteban

There have been a few important successes in antiviral drug development, but for the most part it is extremely difficult to find drugs to treat viral infections. Viruses are highly effective hijackers of cellular processes, and since drugs that … Continue reading →

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Posted in Antiviral Drugs, Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Can miRNAs help further attenuate influenza A vaccines?

Posted on April 6, 2011 by David Esteban

Contributed by Guest Blogger: Brittany Sider ’11
MicroRNA (miRNA) molecules, first characterized in the early 1990s, have been implicated in a variety of different biological mechanisms. It took almost a decade for researchers to detect and understand the role of miRNAs … Continue reading →

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Posted in Immunology, Molecular Virology, Vaccines | Tagged , , | 4 Comments