- Sarracenia purpurea extract is showing promise in early trials against herpes and may act via cyclin-dependent-kinase inhibition, raising speculation that it could work against other latent or oncogenic viruses.  
- Arbor vitae (Thuja) has produced impressive results in HPV trials; participants debate whether the mechanism overlaps with the Sarracenia findings.  
- A live-attenuated HSV-2 vaccine deleted in glycoprotein D (paper: eLife 2015;4:e06054) completely protected mice against vaginal, skin, and neural disease, offering a potential path to sterilizing immunity.  
- Discussion of a January 2018 “cancer vaccine” news story was flagged as worth deeper investigation, though no details were provided in the log.  
- Veritas Genetics’ myGenome service will only release proprietary-format VCF files to individuals with physician approval and IRB clearance, highlighting ongoing friction between consumer genomics and open data access.  
- Lauri Love won his UK appeal against extradition to the US for alleged hacking offenses, prompting side commentary on the harshness of the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).  
- Participants explored alternatives to sexual/asexual reproduction, including bacterial natural competence, horizontal gene transfer, conjugation, and genetic engineering as routes to acquire traits outside one’s clade (e.g., antibiotic resistance).