TWiV discusses an outbreak of influenza H5N1 that killed over half of the great cats at a Washington sanctuary, origin and cross-species transmission of bat coronaviruses in China, and the diverse and abundant phages that enter cells via receptors encoded on conjugative plasmids.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Jolene Ramsey

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H5N1 virus kills great cats at Washington sanctuary (CNN)
Macroevolution of bat coronaviruses in China (Nat Comm)
EcoHealth Alliance funding suspended (Science)
Conjugative plasmids support diverse and abundant phages (Nat Comm)
Letters read on TWiV 1181
Timestamps by Jolene. Thanks!

Weekly Picks

Rich – Pareidolia (wiki)
Jolene – Pathways to Science database
Vincent – Wendy Carlos and Switched-On Bach

Listener Picks

Arjan – Gutsick Gibbon’s YouTube channel
Alan – 2024 Nobel Prize Lectures in Chemistry

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

TWiV 1181: Seek and ye shall find, coronaviruses and phage

This Week in Virology