TWiV 1341: Phage breaks and COVID origins

TWiV explains research that reveals dual activity of a phage-encoded lysin that modulates infection dynamics in a mycobacteriophage, and refutes a proposed link between the SARS-CoV-2 furin cleavage site and mouse-adapted MERS-coronavirus MA30.
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, Angela Mingarelli, and Jolene Ramsey
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• Positions in Rosenfeld Lab (email)
• Dual activity of phage-encoded lysin (mBio)
• Furin cleavage site and SARS-CoV-2 origins (PNAS)
• Theories on SARS-CoV-2 origins (CR Biol)
• Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Picks of the Week Angela – Pigeons. An underappreciated animal. Superparamagnetic macrophages, cancer detectors, mirror mark test Kathy – Wednesday’s APOD and Graphene Jolene – Microbial Puppet Masters science exhibit (scicomm.space/rs22), 3D-models linked in their paper Vincent – Beyond Inheritance by Roxanne Khamsi (TWiEVO 126)
Listener Pick Lana – The Episodic Table of Elements
Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees
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Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.