#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

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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