"Nothing replicates with nucleic acid and evolves through natural selection and is not alive, so I think it's time for viruses to join the pantheon of life," says Dr. White, bringing a fresh perspective to the topic of whether viruses should be considered living or nonliving. Press play to learn why he says viruses are "perfect" parasites, and to explore the following:

• How viruses get sick
• Who's winning the battle against multidrug-resistant organisms, and the critical role viruses play
• What allows a virus to transfer genetic information without replicating itself
• In what way phages have exhibited protective mechanisms for the host and interact with the host immune response

Dr. Richard Allen White III is a virologist and the owner of Raw Molecular Systems (RMS), LLC. His current work is focused on diagnostics and biotherapeutics to combat COVID-19, as well as repurposing bacteriophage to tackle multidrug resistance. He provides unique insight on a handful of compelling questions about viruses, which leads to a discussion of how viruses take over the host's macrophages and trigger cell-to-cell infection, a phage Vibrio that's triggered by a quorum-sensing molecule, viral modification and what it means, virus and host cell interactions, viral evolution and how a virus changes over time, viral tropism, current treatments for the rabies virus, how viruses hold the key to wiping out the growing threat of multidrug-resistant organisms, and more.

Tune in, and learn about Dr. White's company by visiting https://www.rawmolecularsystems.com/. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK