And we're off... On the train to the SFV meeting in Toulouse. Just 7 hours on the train.

A NEW PHASE OF SARS-COV-2 EVOLUTION?

The evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has followed a familiar pattern: new variants emerged, spread rapidly across the globe, and replaced their predecessors - triggering successive waves of infection.

Why am I not surprised that Hegseth and the leadership of the Afrika Korps share the same worldview?
www.nature.com/articles/153...

So would Walter Reed.

This is so stupid. Interestingly, an anti-science disregard for disease prevention was a contributing factor to the defeat of the Afrika Korps in N.Africa on WWII. Being the master race, they thought that they would just be naturally resistant to dysentery.

Take it at face value and explain (as if your interlocutor was a reasonable person) that the emergence of cities is what allowed, and still allows, new viruses to emerge.

My second #ESCMIDGlobal2026 session today is the keynote session given by Eddie Holmes: On virus origin, evolution, and the next pandemic threat

Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later.

"Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial: Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later."

Pregnancy vaccine reduces baby hospital admissions for RSV by 80% A study confirms the vaccine gives excellent protection for babies against life-threatening chest infections.

BBC News - Pregnancy vaccine reduces baby hospital admissions for RSV by 80% - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thanks for this, it saves me the trouble of listening to the whole thing. Seems like the whole lab leak narrative is the very definition of a nothing-burger.

Cool! It's glycolyl neuraminic acid, instead of NeuAc in humans and birds.

Yup.

Seems like there might be another explanation. We lost a huge amount in the first ultracentri over 20% sucrose, and I think the grad student doing the experiments has been running this step at 20000g instead of the 20000 RPM in the protocol (about 75000g)

The DNA virome varies with human genes and environments - Nature Analyses of biobank data show that human variation such as age, sex and genetics, particularly at the major histocompatibility complex locus, is associated with viral abundance and supp...

In the supplementary tables, almost no reads for BKPyV or JCPyV, but surprisingly MCPyV turns up pretty often.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cognitive Assessment Test: Question: Please Identify The Doctor showing pictures of a doctor and Jesus.

This made me LOL… 😂

One of the most reprehensible humans alive

Modeling by Brooke Nichols at Boston University estimates that dismantling USAID led to 762,000 deaths, including >500,000 children

Charles Kenny & Justin Sandefur at the Center for Global Development estimate the number to be between 500,000 & 1 million

Rollout of powerful new HIV prevention tool in lower income countries gets a boost Global Fund and U.S. government plan to make injectable lenacapavir available to 3 million people by 2028

A breakthrough drug that can prevent HIV infection for 6 months with one injection is set to become available to 3 million people in cash-strapped countries over the next 3 years, an increase of 50% from previous commitments. https://scim.ag/4mxEYYu

Lot of good points in here again, but one thing that strikes me is that "The aim is to paint Shi and her colleagues as untrustworthy". This appears again and again, with Chinese colleagues doing important work being portrayed as dishonest. No wonder they are a bit wary these days.

A photo of the front cover of issue 1673 of Private Eye magazine, with the caption “on shelves now.” The main headline reads “HUNGARY: ORBAN LOSES HISTORIC ELECTION.” The central image shows Viktor Orbán standing on stage alongside JD Vance, both raising their arms in front of a cheering crowd with Hungarian and US flags in the background. A speech bubble reads, “Who says America can’t achieve regime change?” A strapline at the bottom reads “HUGE TRIUMPH FOR MAGA (SURELY MAGYAR? ED.).”

Hungary: Orban loses historic election

The new Private Eye is out now.

But is the toxicity directly related to protease activity? Also, maybe different cell lines have different tolerance.

Yeah, I noticed that all the cells were dying

So glad you asked! I am trying to make EVD-68 VLPs using the protocol and plasmids from Tracy Ruckwardt's lab at the VRC
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37196074/
Capsid P1 is co-expressed with 3CD protease from two separate plasmids.

the answer to an imaginary Talmudic Question (TQ) from Elio: why are there so few RNA phages?
#PhageSky

These guys would have no problem loading people into rail cars, and sending them off to "the east".

I was with you until the "only took 10 years" part! Increasing biomass not much of a possibility with our set up (transient transfect in 293 cells), though. Codon optimisation already done.

The benefits of a classical education!

Ah, what to do when VLP purif works, but the quantity is at least 10x lower than what is needed?

I don’t think people around the world realize how bad the attack on Lebanon was today. It’s BAD. Like 9/11 BAD. Hospitals are overflowing and do not have enough blood. We still don’t know what the death toll is.
This is TERRORISM. Pure and Simple.
April 8. Never forget.

Glad to hear that my friend and colleague, Élie Hadchity, of Lebanese University, has not been injured in the bombing (so far). His university campus was in the danger zone this afternoon.

My lab at Pitt is looking for a Research Scientist to help us make phage therapy for patients with antibiotic-resistant infections. Please share and apply! cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...