Viruses have led School of Medicine scientists to the discovery of a security system in host cells. Even though these viruses beat a host’s security system millennia ago, researchers began to notice it just 35 years ago and are now looking into bringing the system back into play in the fight against diseases such as sudden acute respiratory syndrome, West Nile virus, dengue and yellow fever. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/21507.aspx

University College in Arts & Sciences will host “The Future of Sports,” a panel discussion featuring Bob Costas and other sports experts and historians, at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 in the Laboratory Sciences Building, Room 300. Topics will range from performance-enhancing drugs to NFL collective-bargaining to the potential rise of soccer in the United States. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/21494.aspx

Students played a game of Quidditch in the South 40 Swamp Nov. 15 as part of Harry Potter Week. College councils from four residential colleges organized the week to celebrate the opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which premieres in St. Louis at midnight tonight. More than any other group, this generation of college students has grown up with the Harry Potter franchise. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/21526.aspx

Jai P. Nagarkatti, PhD, a member of the Board of Trustees since 2007 and chairman, president and CEO of Sigma-Aldrich Corp., died Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010, of a heart attack. He was 63. Nagarkatti was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2007 and had been a member of the board’s Research-Graduate Affairs Committee. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/21524.aspx

• 6 p.m. Latin American Film Series. Bolivia. Directed by Adrian Caetano. Sponsored by Dept. of Romance Languages and Literatures. Free and open to the public. Seigle Hall, Rm. 306. (314) 935-5175.

• Faculty book reading and discussion Friday. Faculty members from all campuses are invited to join a faculty book group reading and discussion of Blue Angel by Francine Prose. Gerald L. Early, PhD, will lead a discussion of the book at noon Friday, Nov. 19, in Eliot Hall, Room 307.

• Cross country teams qualify for NCAA championships. Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams have qualified to compete in the 2010 NCAA Division III championship meet Saturday, Nov. 20, hosted by Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. A total of 32 teams will compete in both the men’s and women’s NCAA races. The men’s race begins at 11 a.m., followed by the women’s race at noon.