A New Season, A New Normal

Brad introduces a new season of podcasts focused on viral genomes such as the one behind our current COVID-19 pandemic.
Genomics Revolution Podcast

Episode 37: A New Season, A New Normal

Host: Brad Goodner, Professor of Biology & Biomedical Humanities at Hiram College

 
Transcript:

Welcome to our 2nd season of Genomics Revolution.  I am your host, Brad Goodner.  Along with this new season of podcasts comes a new normal that all of us are dealing with – the COVID-19 pandemic.  I hope that you and your loved ones are not just safe and healthy, but that you are finding new ways to engage with the world.  I know here in northeast Ohio where I teach at Hiram College, it is a very different feeling this 3rd week of March than it was just 2 weeks ago.  I now teach courses and work with students using a virtual classroom.  I am trying to embrace the challenge of making my virtual interactions as meaningful and fun as my face-to-face interactions were in the past.  All because of a viral outbreak called COVID-19.

Last week during our spring break, while I was preparing materials to help the students in my Spring 2020 Genetics course write new episodes for this podcast, it struck me that we should embrace our new normal.  Why not focus this season of podcasts on viruses.  You might wonder - what do viruses have to do with genomics?  That calls for a definition – what is a virus?

A virus is a noncellular parasite.  Cellular lifeforms on planet Earth all share certain features – they are bounded by a lipid bilayer membrane, they use double-stranded DNA as their genomes, they make their own proteins, and they transform energy and carry out metabolism.  Viruses are much much simpler.  Among all viruses, there are only two shared components.  One, a genome, but there are 4 flavors to choose from – some viruses have double-stranded DNA like cells, some have single-stranded DNA, some have double-stranded RNA, and some have single-stranded RNA.  Two, the viral genome is surrounded by a protein-based shell called its capsid.  Beyond a genome inside a capsid, viruses can differ greatly from one another.  Some are surrounded by membrane derived from a host cell, while others are not.  Most viral genomes are composed of one molecule of DNA or RNA, but some viruses have multi-component genomes.  Some virus particles are rigid while others are flexible.  However, no matter its genome, capsid and other features, every virus has one or more cellular organisms as a host.  There is no cellular organism on Earth that does not have at least one virus that can infect it.  We humans have lots of viral pathogens to worry about and maybe a few that infect us but do not cause us great harm.

COVID-19 is caused by one such human viral pathogen called a coronavirus.  Let us learn more about coronaviruses and other viruses, and in doing so feel more empowered that we can make it through the ongoing pandemic.  Along the way, we will see how viruses have in fact impacted humans throughout our history.

Take care of yourself and those around you.  Genomics Revolution will help keep you informed and entertained.  Stay tuned.