Kathy Spindler, you have not stopped educating folks. I bet you end up educating more people via TWiV than in the classroom. 1,400 saw this one podcast alone, so far.
Kathy and Steph, Queensland suits you. You both look summery tropical. I hope you can present more Australian scientists while at Options 12. I’d love to hear more from their perspective and their research
On immunodominance and frequency of mutation: I'd argue the mechanism is the other way around. For some (still unknown, may be accessibility of the sticky-outy parts) reason some epitopes dominate the immune response. In these epitopes we see increased frequency of mutation. Not because they mutate more often, but because these mutations are successful in an environment involving immunity. I am therefore not so sure whether targeting the stalk of the spike will be a successful strategy. It may just trigger evasion.
Interesting discussion. But, what I've noticed, especially with the Immune podcasts is that, unless you have an extensive background in biology, virology, and immunology, most of the discussions are well beyond the comprehension of most people, which limits the potential audience and fund raising. E.g. at the very beginning, Stef mentions HA. Unless you know that she means hemagglutinin (HA), the "spike-like" protein on the surface of the flu virus, one has no idea what she's talking about. About the only people on TWiV podcasts who stop to help explain things are Rich Condit and Dickson Despommier. Stopping to explain terms on TWiV has been discussed in the past, but seems to have gone by the wayside. I love the podcasts, but I hardly ever post links to them, because most of the people I know have no idea behind the science involved. Unless the content is somehow changed, I fear there will always be a very limited audience for the MicrobeTV podcasts.
TWiV has had a large influx of laypeople during the pandemic. During that time efforts were made to be more inclusive with language. that was mostly TWiV, though. with the shifting interest in the now endemic phase, that clientele, and therefore the orientation towards them, has waned (contracted?). It's a fine balance between still being attractive to the experts, while being general enough for the layperson.
Vincent R does chime in with the immunology topics. Brianne Barker is great because she teaches the subject to undergraduates all the time. She always has an explanation that the whole audience can understand. Immunology is just a difficult topic, IMHO, because there are so many moving and interlocking parts, lots of vocabulary to remember, and much still to be discovered.
Kathy Spindler, you have not stopped educating folks. I bet you end up educating more people via TWiV than in the classroom. 1,400 saw this one podcast alone, so far.
In the words of Chico Marx, "Why a duck?"
😅
For the soup, we ran out of chicken.
Enthusiasm for deep understanding is so attractive and intoxicating, not to mention rewarding. Thank you!
Kathy and Steph, Queensland suits you. You both look summery tropical.
I hope you can present more Australian scientists while at Options 12. I’d love to hear more from their perspective and their research
On immunodominance and frequency of mutation:
I'd argue the mechanism is the other way around. For some (still unknown, may be accessibility of the sticky-outy parts) reason some epitopes dominate the immune response. In these epitopes we see increased frequency of mutation. Not because they mutate more often, but because these mutations are successful in an environment involving immunity.
I am therefore not so sure whether targeting the stalk of the spike will be a successful strategy. It may just trigger evasion.
That is actually a pretty good hypothesis for a PhD.
Interesting discussion. But, what I've noticed, especially with the Immune podcasts is that, unless you have an extensive background in biology, virology, and immunology, most of the discussions are well beyond the comprehension of most people, which limits the potential audience and fund raising. E.g. at the very beginning, Stef mentions HA. Unless you know that she means hemagglutinin (HA), the "spike-like" protein on the surface of the flu virus, one has no idea what she's talking about. About the only people on TWiV podcasts who stop to help explain things are Rich Condit and Dickson Despommier. Stopping to explain terms on TWiV has been discussed in the past, but seems to have gone by the wayside. I love the podcasts, but I hardly ever post links to them, because most of the people I know have no idea behind the science involved. Unless the content is somehow changed, I fear there will always be a very limited audience for the MicrobeTV podcasts.
TWiV has had a large influx of laypeople during the pandemic. During that time efforts were made to be more inclusive with language. that was mostly TWiV, though. with the shifting interest in the now endemic phase, that clientele, and therefore the orientation towards them, has waned (contracted?).
It's a fine balance between still being attractive to the experts, while being general enough for the layperson.
Vincent R does chime in with the immunology topics. Brianne Barker is great because she teaches the subject to undergraduates all the time. She always has an explanation that the whole audience can understand. Immunology is just a difficult topic, IMHO, because there are so many moving and interlocking parts, lots of vocabulary to remember, and much still to be discovered.