Professor Steve Goodbourn, from St George’s, University of London, talks with PhD students Joanna Morrell and Yasmin Parr about his his work on unravelling the biochemical mysteries of how viruses unravel the innate immune system of their hosts. Steve’s work has been integral to our understanding of how some of the most dangerous viruses can infect and cause disease in humans and other animals and he has contributed much to virology in the form of ideas and reagents.