#216 – Vincent Racaniello: Viruses and Vaccines

Vincent Racaniello is a virologist, immunologist, and microbiologist at Columbia. He is a co-author of the textbook Principles of Virology and co-host of This Week in Virology podcast. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

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EPISODE LINKS:

Vincent's Twitter: https://twitter.com/profvrr

Vincent's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/vincentracaniello

Vincent's Podcast: https://www.microbe.tv/

Vincent's Website: http://www.virology.ws/

Vincent's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/profvrr

PODCAST INFO:

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OUTLINE:

Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) - Introduction

(10:24) - Microbiology by numbers

(15:47) - From bacteria to an organism

(23:46) - AlphaFold 2

(27:44) - Simulating an evolutionary arms race

(53:11) - The most terrifying virus

(1:14:54) - SARS-CoV-2

(1:29:38) - Coronaviruses and Influenza. What's the difference?

(1:35:45) - Vaccines

(1:41:43) - Lex on his reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine shot

(1:47:39) - Modern vaccines

(1:52:39) - How does mRNA vaccine work?

(1:55:26) - Are mRNA vaccines safe?

(2:21:52) - Lex on trust in authority

(2:36:59) - Ivermectin

(2:43:39) - Hydroxychloroquine

(2:48:22) - Variants and mutations

(2:55:20) - Testing

(3:03:27) - How does COVID-19 spread?

(3:06:37) - Masks

(3:15:05) - Bret Weinstein vs Sam Harris

(3:18:39) - This Week in Virology

(3:28:19) - Advice for young people

(3:30:42) - Meaning of life