What do scientists mean when they talk about the innate immune system? What are the differences between innate and adaptive immunity? What is the immune system composed of? This and much more in this episode of The Viral Talk.

Key takeaways:

- Our immune system can be divided in 'innate' and 'adaptive'.

- The innate immune system is quick and acts broadly. The adaptive immune system takes longer to kick in, but it is much more effective.

- The innate immune system is composed of multiple layers. Physical barriers like the skin, mucosal barriers like mucus and saliva, and chemical barriers like our stomach pH protect us from the vast majority of pathogens.

- Sometimes these are not enough, so most cells in our body have sentinels on their outside and inside that look for signs of infection and activate a general, quick immune response, leading to activation of some of our white blood cells, as well inflammation, swelling and increase in temperature.

-The masterminds for the activation of our innate antiviral response are the interferon genes. There are multiple types of interferons, and they act as signaling molecules that induce an antiviral state inside the cell.

For the sciency people:

• Book chapter on innate immunity - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459455/
• Explanation on interferon - https://www.dummies.com/article/academics-the-arts/science/biology/innate-immunity-built-in-defenses-169110/

Timestamps:

• Core episode start - 1.24
• Viral News of the day -13.50
• Ask a virologist section - 36.30

Calls to Action

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This is 'Ask a professional', the format of the Viral Talk where the focus is on the science but most importantly on the PERSON behind the science. From insect-borne viruses to SARS-CoV-2 and vaccines, we're going to interview experts from the UK and the world on their research, career, future prospects and tips for the younger generations of scientists. In this episode Federico interviews Dr Valerie Odon, newly appointed group leader at the University of Strathclyde in virology. In this episode we're gonna talk about cells investigating intruders (viruses), the wisdom of mothers and the challenges that come with becoming your own boss.

For the sciency people:

How a cellular protein recognises viral RNA and stops virus replication - DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz581

How that same protein differs in humans and birds and this leads to differences in immunity - doi: 10.1261/rna.079102.122

Who is Valerie Odon? - https://www.strath.ac.uk/staff/odonvaleriedr/

Follow The Viral Talk on IG - https://www.instagram.com/the_viral_talk_/

Follow us on X - @The_Viral_Talk

What does the term co-infection mean? What happens when two viruses infect us at the same time and why is it important for our health? This and much more in this episode of The Viral Talk.

But also, a new host joins the show, episodes take on a new structure, and we answer questions from the audience.

Key takeaways:

- A co-infection occurs when two or more pathogens infect the same host at the same time

- There are multiple types of co-infections, as we can be infected by bacteria, parasites and viruses, and different types of co-infections have different effects on our bodies

- There are multiple types of viral co-infections as well - we can be infected by different strains of the same virus (e.g. Flu), different viruses that infect the same type of cells (e.g. SARS-CoV-2 and RSV) or different viruses that infect different parts of our body (e.g. HIV and HepC)

- For a long time it was assumed that co-infections would worsen the outcome of the individual infections, but researchers have found that this is not necessarily the case

- Vaccines against commonly co-occurring pathogens are being tested.

For the sciency people:

Why won't different strains of flu be friends? - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001941

Hep C and HIV co-infection review - 10.3748/wjg.v8.i4.577

RSV and SARS-CoV-2 in mice - 10.1101/2023.05.24.542043

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Welcome to the 2nd Special Episode of The Viral Talk. In this episode our host Federico interviews Faye Watson, Churchill Fellow and Public Engagement Officer for the School of Medicine and Veterinary medicine at the University of Edinburgh (although not for long!!).

Faye is going to talk to us about her project on improving prevention and outreach for the communities affected by blood-borne viral infections (e.g. HIV and HepC) in Scotland, and how to use Botswana and South Africa as model countries to tackle the inherent challenges of doing this type of work. Join us for a most informative conversation on what needs to be done to tackle these type of infections and also (but not less importantly) on the importance of forming human connections in our fight against infectious diseases.

Link to the youtube interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjSc_Icp7Ww

Bits of info

Who is Faye Watson?

https://www.fayewatson.co.uk/

What is the Churchill Fellowship?

https://www.churchillfellowship.org/

What is Unseen Hands?

https://cvr-engagement.co.uk/unseen-hands

https://foshostudios.com/project/cvr-unseen-hands/

FoSho Studios

https://foshostudios.com/

Welcome to the 2nd season of ‘Ask a professional’, the format of the Viral Talk where the focus is on the science but most importantly the PERSON behind the science. From insect-borne viruses to SARS-CoV-2, we’re going to interview experts from the UK and the world on their research and then we’re going to talk about their career, future prospects and tips for younger generations of future scientists.

In this episode Federico interviews Dr Ben Brennan, group leader at the Centre for Virology Research at the University of Glasgow. They're gonna talk about ticks living up to 4 years, reverse engineering viruses to make vaccines and headbutting walls until they fall down.

For the sciency people:

What are bunyaviruses - ⁠https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1879625715001261

Bunyaviruses and climate change - doi: ⁠10.1111/j.1469-0691.2009.02849.x

Oropouche virus in Brazil - doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(24)00672-8

Who is Ben Brennan- https://www.brennanlab.co.uk/

Follow the Viral Talk on IG - https://www.instagram.com/the_viral_talk_/

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And Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-viral-talk/

What are coronaviruses? How are they structured and what is being done to be more prepared next time another one emerges? This and much more in this new episode of The Viral Talk.

Join your usual host Federico and an old friend of the show Bobbie-Anne Turner from the University of Liverpool to hear about the dreaded coronaviruses!

Key points:

• The scientific community has known about coronaviruses for a long time. The first coronavirus ever discovered was a poultry coronavirus named Infectious bronchitis virus and was discovered in the 1940s.

• The first human coronaviruses were discovered together in the 60s by the common cold unit in the UK, and were human coronaviruses OC43 and 229E;

• Coronaviruses are very diverse but have roughly the same genome structure. They all possess a set of 14 non-structural genes necessary to make the proteins that allow the virus to make more copies of itself. And they all possess four structural proteins, which make the building blocks of the viral particle (or virion).
• These four proteins, called Spike, Envelope, Membrane and Nucleocapsid all have important functions during infection. Spike is found on the surface of the virus and is the protein that allows it to infect cells. Envelope is thought to have a general role in coordinating the assembly process of the virus inside the cell. The Membrane protein is the physical outer layer of the viral particle, which contains its genome and on which the Spike protein is found, and the Nucleocapsid wraps around the newly made copies of viral genome and packages it inside the virus.
• Different viruses can have a variable number of 'accessory' genes, which help the virus during infection by fighting the host immune response or facilitating spread between cells.

• Coronaviruses are very diverse, there are four different groups called Alpha-, Beta-, Delta- and Gamma-coronaviruses. Alpha and Beta coronaviruses usually infect mammals, Delta and Gamma coronaviruses more often than not infect birds, but this is not an absolute.
• Some coronaviruses are specialists, meaning that they only infect a specific type of host, while others, like SARS-CoV-2, can be quite generalists, and infect a series of animals.
• This characteristic is important for emergence and re-emergence, and it tells us that it is important to be constantly surrounding the environment and both wild animals and human-adjacent animals. The biggest example of this is deer in America and now in Europe, as it seems that SARS-CoV-2 has taken a home in white-tailed deer that might act as a wild reservoir for the virus.
• Apart from the pandemic, the scientific community is very interested in coronaviruses because in the last 20 years there have been three different instances of emergence of highly pathogenic coronaviruses, with SARS-CoV in 2003, MERS-CoV in 2012 and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019.
• There is a lot going on in the scientific community to be prepared for when the next one comes forward. Environmental surveillance is going strong. There are strong efforts to develop a pancoronavirus vaccine to make sure we’d be protected against any coronavirus. There are many international consortia, such as the UK-ICN, the SARS-CoV-2 G2P consortia, and many more, that foster international collaboration, inform governments and integrate lab and social sciences to better tackle the practical problems emerging from pandemics and governance.

For the sciency people

Intro to Coronaviruses: 10.1038/220650b0

History of coronaviruses: 10.33493/scivis.20.01.04

Coronavirus diversity: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.926677

What are the human coronaviruses: 10.1038/220650b0 

Relevant links

What’s the UK-ICN? https://uk-icn.co.uk/

What’s the G2P consortium? https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FW005611%2F1

Call to actions

IG profile: https://www.instagram.com/the_viral_talk_/

X profile: https://twitter.com/The_Viral_Talk

Podcaser.com - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-viral-talk-5094049

This is ‘Ask a professional’, the format of the Viral Talk where the focus is on the science but most importantly the PERSON behind the science. From insect-borne viruses to SARS-CoV-2, we’re going to interview experts from the UK and the world on their research and then we’re going to talk about their career, future prospects and tips for younger generations of future scientists. In this episode Federico interviews Dr Chris Hill, group leader at the Department of Biology of the University of York. In this episode we're gonna talk about discovering that the tooth fairy is not real, looking at single molecules down the microscope and the pervasiveness of Imposter Syndrome among young researchers.

For the sciency people:

How do some viruses manage to pack more information than physically possible - 10.1146/annurev-virology-111821-120646

How viruses hijack our protein production machinery - doi: 10.1083/jcb.200205044

The wonderful bioimaging facilities at the University of York https://www.york.ac.uk/research/themes/technologies-for-the-future/bioimaging/#:~:text=Researchers%20at%20York%20have%20developed,more%20about%20Resonant%20Hyperspectral%20Imaging.

Imposter syndrome and how big of a problem it is - https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/women-and-early-career-academics-experience-imposter-syndrome-fields-emphasise

Who is Chris Hill- https://www.hill-lab.co.uk/pi

Follow Chris on X - https://twitter.com/chillzaa

Follow the Viral Talk on IG - https://www.instagram.com/the_viral_talk_/

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And Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-viral-talk/

This is the first SPECIAL episode of The Viral Talk. It was recorded in Liverpool at the UK-International Coronavirus Network Early Career Researchers symposium.

The Viral Talk team was invited to take part to a fantastic initiative organized by the UK-ICN to encourage young scientists to share knowledge, hopes, dreams and to network in Liverpool on the 1st of March 2024.

Three early career researchers were chosen to come on the show and talk about their experience, their projects, and their hopes for the future. The guests were:

-Bobbie-Anne Turner, a third year PhD student at the University of Liverpool in Prof. Julian Hiscox lab, trying to identify which cellular proteins bind and interact with a specific structural protein of many human coronaviruses.

-Carla Ruiz, a first year PhD student from IRTA CReSA (Barcelona) trying to establish a model organism for 'Long' COVID-19

-Nuno Santos, a postdoc at the Francis Crick Insitute in Dr David Bauer lab studying the evolution of coronaviruses and the way their genetic code (RNA) changes.

What is the UK-ICN?

https://uk-icn.co.uk/

Who are the speakers?

Bobbie-Anne Turner - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/bobbie-anne-turner

Carla Ruiz - https://es.linkedin.com/in/carla-ruiz-casas-92a0971a1?trk=people-guest_people_search-card

Nuno Santos - https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/find-a-researcher/nuno-santos

Follow the viral talk on X - https://twitter.com/The_Viral_Talk

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This is ‘Ask a professional’, the format of the Viral Talk where the focus is on the science but most importantly the PERSON behind the science. From insect-borne viruses to SARS-CoV-2, we’re going to interview experts from the UK and the world on their research and then we’re going to talk about their career, future prospects and tips for younger generations of future scientists. In this episode Federico interviews Dr Ed Emmot, group leader at the Centre for Proteomics Research at the Universty of Liverpool. In this episode we're gonna talk about proteins that cut other proteins, how viruses can benefit from that and the importance of finding your niche.

For the sciency people:

The role of proteolysis in SARS-CoV-2 infection - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25796-w

Book chapter on the proteomics of viruses - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444519801500173#:~:text=sensitivity%20and%20fidelity.-,Proteomics%20is%20a%20promising%20approach%20for%20the%20study%20of%20viruses,disease%2C%20and%20accelerates%20drug%20development

A simple overview on the concept of proteolysis - https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/An-Overview-of-Proteolysis.aspx

Who is Ed Emmot - https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/systems-molecular-and-integrative-biology/staff/edward-emmott/publications/

Follow the Viral Talk on IG - https://www.instagram.com/the_viral_talk_/

On Twitter - https://twitter.com/The_Viral_Talk

And Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-viral-talk/

This is ‘Ask a professional’, the format of the Viral Talk where the focus is on the science but most importantly the PERSON behind the science. From insect-borne viruses to SARS-CoV-2, we’re going to interview experts from the UK and the world on their research and then we’re going to talk about their career, future prospects and tips for younger generations of future scientists. In this episode Federico interviews Dr Vanessa Herder, pathobiologist at the Centre for Virus Research at the Universty of Glasgow. In this episode we’re going to talk about looking at tissues to understand how viruses can cause disease, having the courage to change career paths and loving what we do.

For the sciency people:

SARS-CoV-2 in cats - doi: 10.1002/vetr.247. Epub 2021 Apr 22.

Review on pathology due to virus infection - 10.1016/B978-0-12-375156-0.00007-2

Who si Vanessa? https://www.vanessa-herder.com/ 

What does her work focus on? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lMNfWYs4t4&ab_channel=VanessaHerder

Vanessa's Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessaherder/

Follow The Viral Talk on X (formerly Twitter) – ⁠https://twitter.com/The_Viral_Talk⁠  

On IG – @the_viral_talk_  

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Leave a Review of the episode on Podchaser.com - ⁠https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-viral-talk-5094049⁠

What are the ways in which our bodies protect us from viral infections? Is it easy for a virus to establish an infection? This and much more in this episode of The Viral Talk.

Key takeaways:

• There are very few ways in which a virus can manage to infect us, and all of them require to surpass the skin in some way, such as getting through cuts, through the mouth, the nose, the eyes or the reproductive organs;
• There are multiple physical and chemical barriers that prevent viruses from infecting us all the time at each of the vulnerable sites;
• These include pH, presence of mucus to trap invaders, various enzymes that degrade proteins and even our microbiota (aka the bacteria living in us);
• The gut has also regions filled with immune cells that scan the environment and activate the immune response if they detect a viral infection going on;
• In addition, most cells (not just immune cells) are capable of producing a set of molecules called Interferons;
• Interferons are the master molecules that have evolved to specifically counter viral infections, and are produced when a cell recognises that it has been infected;
• Interferons also act as signals that alert other, non-infected cells that there are invaders;
• Interferons also activate the process of inflammation, which brings at the point of infection other immune cells, so that the adaptive immune response can start;

Articles for the most interested:

Physical barriers to infection - https://teachmephysiology.com/immune-system/innate-immune-system/barriers-to-infection/

Review on interferons - https://www.nature.com/articles/nri3787

How does the immune system works? - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zyxg7p3/revision/2

Follow the Viral Talk on IG - https://www.instagram.com/the_viral_talk_/

On Twitter - https://twitter.com/The_Viral_Talk

And Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-viral-talk/

This is ‘Ask a professional’, the format of the Viral Talk where the focus is on the science but most importantly the PERSON behind the science. From insect-borne viruses to SARS-CoV-2, we’re going to interview experts from the UK and the world on their research and then we’re going to talk about their career, future prospects and tips for younger generations of future scientists. In this episode Federico interviews Nerea Irigoyen, Research group leader in the Pathology department of the University of Cambridge. We’re going to talk about Zika virus in pregnancy, the role of climate change for mosquito-borne viruses, and keeping in mind that science is frustrating.

For the sciency people:  

What do we know about Zika virus and pregnancy? - https://www.cdc.gov/pregnancy/zika/pregnancy.html

Preprint on the identification of novel proteins in Zika virus with a role in neurodegeneration – https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/112904v2

Who’s Nerea Irigoyen (on X) – https://twitter.com/NereaIrigoyen

(Uni of Cambridge) - https://www.path.cam.ac.uk/directory/dr-nerea-irigoyen 

Follow The Viral Talk on X (formerly Twitter) – https://twitter.com/The_Viral_Talk  

On IG – @the_viral_talk_  

On Linkedin –https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-viral-talk/

Leave a Review of the episode on Podchaser.com - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-viral-talk-5094049

This is ‘Ask a professional’, the new format of the Viral Talk where the focus is on the science but most importantly the PERSON behind the science. From insect-borne viruses to SARS-CoV-2, we’re going to interview experts from the UK and the world on their research and then we’re going to talk about their career, future prospects and tips for younger generations of future scientists. In this episode Federico interviews Marcus Blagrove, Senior Lecturer in Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour at the University of Liverpool. In this episode we’re going to talk about AI in virology, pandemic preparedness, being a cycling world champion and the importance of the working environment when you start your PhD.

For the sciency people:  

Using AI to predict association between previously non-associated viruses and mammals - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24085-w

Preprint on the role of life expectancy on virus burden in mammals (the one mentioned in the episode) - http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2722217/v1

AI to predict new hosts of coronaviruses - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21034-5

Who’s Marcus Blagrove? -  https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/infection-veterinary-and-ecological-sciences/staff/marcus-blagrove/

Follow The Viral Talk on X (formerly Twitter) – https://twitter.com/The_Viral_Talk/

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On Linkedin –https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-viral-talk/

Leave a Review of the episode on Podchaser.com - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-viral-talk-5094049

This is ‘Ask a professional’, the new format of the Viral Talk where the focus is on the science but most importantly the PERSON behind the science. From insect-borne viruses to SARS-CoV-2, we’re going to interview experts from the UK and the world on their research and then we’re going to talk about their career, future prospects and tips for younger generations of future scientists. In this episode Federico interviews Dr Wil Furnon, Post doctoral research associate at the Centre for Virus Research of the University of Glasgow. In this episode we’re going to talk about SARS-CoV-2 variants of concerns (or VOCs), virus evolution, deciding that geology has too much math and the importance of handling failure well.

For the sciency people:  

A nice review on the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-023-00878-2

Tracking and naming the Variants of Concern (VOCs) of SARS-CoV-2 - 10.3390/microorganisms9050926

SARS-CoV-2 Variants and Classification - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-classifications.html

Follow Dr Wil Furnon on X (formerly Twitter) - https://twitter.com/WFurnon

Follow The Viral Talk on X (formerly Twitter) – https://twitter.com/The_Viral_Talk/  

On IG – @the_viral_talk_  

On Linkedin –https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-viral-talk/

Leave a Review of the episode on Podchaser.com - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-viral-talk-5094049

This is ‘Ask a professional’, the new format of the Viral Talk where the focus is on the science but most importantly the PERSON behind the science. From insect-borne viruses to SARS-CoV-2, we’re going to interview experts from the UK and the world on their research and then we’re going to talk about their career, future prospects and tips for younger generations of future scientists.   Join the host Federico in the second episode of the series interviewing Hannah Burgess, lecturer in the Department of Microbial Sciences at the University of Surrey. In this episode we’re going to cover the role of mRNA modification in infection, changing career without disappointing your parents and the importance of engaging with people at conferences.    For the sciency people:   mRNA modifications as regulators of protein expression - DOI: ⁠10.1080/15476286.2016.1203504⁠ 

What are the general strategies viruses use to manipulate RNA? -

⁠DOI: 10.1101/gad.349276.121⁠    How certain host proteins control mRNA length to control viral infections - DOI: ⁠10.15252/embr.202256327⁠     Dr Hannah Burgess' lab - https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/hannah-burgess#about

Follow Dr Hannah Burgess on X (formerly Twitter) - https://twitter.com/HannahmBurgess 

Follow The Viral Talk on X (formerly Twitter) – https://twitter.com/The_Viral_Talk   On IG – @the_viral_talk_   On Linkedin –https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-viral-talk/   Leave a Review of the episode on Podchaser.com - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-viral-talk-5094049

What are the differences between acute and persistent viral infections? How can certain viruses stay with us forever and never be cleared? This and much more in this episode of The Viral Talk.

Key takeaways:

• An acute infection is characterized by a sudden or rapid development of disease, that can either be resolved quickly or lead to death;
• In a persistent infection, the virus is not cleared by our body, and it either becomes latent (e.g Herpes Simplex Virus) or it keeps replicating at low levels for very long periods of time (e.g. Hepatitis B Virus, HIV);
• For a latent infection to become a persistent infection, it needs two characteristics:  persistence and reversibility.
• Reversibility is the ability of a virus to resume active viral replication after undergoing latency, persistence is the ability to stay in our body without being eliminated/cleared for a long period of time.
• A latent virus that lacks a way to be ‘re-activated’ only causes dead-end infections.
• Herpesviruses and Retroviruses are the only known viral families able to undergo latency.
• Latency is a successful survival strategy that allows viruses to avoid being cleared by the host’s defences.
• In addition to latent viral infections, there is another type of infection which is chronic viral infections.
• In chronic infections, the virus keeps replicating inside the host for long periods of time without being cleared, causing low levels of pathology. The best example for this is HIV, followed by Hepatitis B virus.

• Constant rounds of infection by these viruses lead to the onset of the diseases they’re known for, AIDS and hepatitis, respectively.

Articles for the most interested:

General definition of persistent viral infections - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8538/

Common threads in persistent viral infections - https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.01905-09

Retroviruses in the human genome - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.02039/full 

How do viruses go latent? - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2914632/#:~:text=In%20latent%20infection%2C%20the%20full,additional%20properties%3A%20persistence%20and%20reversibility.

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How can tiny viruses hijack a cell and make it do their bidding? How can they survive a whole organism trying to get rid of them? This and much more in this episode of The Viral Talk.

Key takeaways:

• Viruses make three types of proteins. One type to replicate, one type to protect their genome once they're outside of the host, and one to modify the cell they infect at their 'whim'.
• The proteins they use to change the structure of the cell often work through 'mimicry'. They have motifs/domains that resemble cellular proteins, which interact with our proteins to either stop their function or re-direct it.
• Common to most viral infection is a phenomenon called host translation shut off, in which cellular protein production goes down and viral protein production goes up.
• Translation shut off can be achieved by either destroying cellular mRNA or tricking the cellular translation machinery into believing that viral mRNA is in fact cellular mRNA.
• Viruses have also evolved multiple ways to shut down the immune response of cells, through accessory proteins that are not incorporated into the final viral particles but without which they don't fare very well.
• They have also evolved multiple ways to mimic cellular 'messenger molecules', by doing so causing distruptions in the way cells can respond to infection.
• These viral proteins are also very important targets for the development of antiviral drugs.

Articles for the most interested:

• DOI:10.1038/nri980 - Viral mimicry of messenger molecules
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4952 - Influenza mimicry of histone 3
• DOI: 10.1006/viro.2000.0816 - HIV Nef protein and MHC
• DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro267 - Viral Cap snatchin
• https://viralzone.expasy.org/1579#:~:text=Viruses%20have%20evolved%20ways%20of,to%20evade%20host%20immune%20response%20 - Nice resource that lists way in which viruses cause translation shut off.

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Contact The Viral Talk via email - theviraltalk.podcast@gmail.com

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How do viruses cause disease? What are the processes that make us sick and what can we do about it? This and much more in this episode of The Viral Talk.

Takeaways:

• When viruses infect our cells they hijack them and sequester all the resources that the cell might need to stay alive, causing it to malfunction and die.

• Infected cells also recognize that they're infected and 'self-destruct' to stop the infection.
• When cells recognize a virus they release signals that call in the immune system, which leads to inflammation and cell death.
• The virulence of a virus is dependent both on its genomic content and its 'tropism' aka the tissues and cells that it infects.
• Influenza has a preference for cells of the respiratory tract and causes respiratory infections. HIV infects immune cells and therefore causes AIDS.
• Some viruses like Ebolaviruses do not have a preferred cell and are able to infect most of them, causing very severe, generalised infections.
• The type of disease is also due to mutations in our genome, which can make us more or less prone to severe immune responses called 'cytokine storms'.

Links and scientific papers: