WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:03.319 Oh hey, it's your fig tree, just waiting in the 2 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:05.839 yard to see how many leaves it has to sprout 3 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:08.160 and unfurl before you stop and say, oh, look, the 4 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.919 fig tree has leaves. Ali Ward back with a bonus 5 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:14.080 episode of ologies. Did I think I was making this 6 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:15.080 episode two days ago? 7 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:16.039 No? 8 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:19.480 No, But sometimes you see a tweet and you say, boy, howdye, 9 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.960 let's get this human on the horn, pass the mic 10 00:00:22.359 --> 00:00:26.199 and spread the word. So the March tenth Virology episode 11 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:30.239 was recorded on March fifth. A lot has happened in 12 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:32.479 the last few weeks. I don't know if you've noticed, 13 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:35.640 so I added an update before the intro to that episode, 14 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:38.000 but I'm going to read it here too. Virologist doctor 15 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.479 Shannon Bennett wrote me on March seventeenth, and let me know, quote, daily, 16 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:45.039 new confirmed cases are growing in number exponentially here in 17 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:46.840 the US. And that is in light of one of 18 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:50.799 the lowest per capita testing rates worldwide by country, twenty 19 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:53.439 six tests per million people as of March tenth. That 20 00:00:53.560 --> 00:00:56.679 means that, even though we all recognize that confirmed cases 21 00:00:56.679 --> 00:00:59.000 are just the tip of the iceberg of the actual 22 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:04.799 infections in the US, our iceberg is particularly submerged. In short, 23 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:08.519 she said, it's time to take social distancing seriously and 24 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:11.400 flatten the curve. So that was an update from doctor 25 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.439 Shannon Bennett of the virology episode. So, in light of 26 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:18.040 the lack of testing, especially comparatively, plenty of us here 27 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:22.239 in Great Old America are asking where are the tests? 28 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:25.000 How can we get the tests? So one guy, a 29 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:30.159 neurobiologist and postdoctoral fellow at Harvard's Department of Stem Cell 30 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:34.599 and Regenerative Biology and the Road Institute, said we'll shoot. 31 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:37.200 We have so many ologists out there, let's just see 32 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.159 who wants to help. I'm paraphrasing, and he put together 33 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:44.640 a Google form just as a private citizen, working completely independently, 34 00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:47.480 not as an employee of Harvard or the broad and 35 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:51.319 within hours had an army of scientists who are ready 36 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:55.359 to combat SARS covy two, the virus that causes COVID nineteen, 37 00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:58.439 which we covered in virology. In case that confuses you, 38 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:00.760 I get it. So if only we can use the 39 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:03.200 strengths we have and come together, will be in a 40 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:06.680 much better place. So rather than just retweeting the URL 41 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.400 to the Google form, I thought we'd make an episode 42 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:12.080 out there for anyone who wants to help but just 43 00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:14.400 doesn't know what to do. And for anyone out there 44 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:16.840 who could use some advice on taking care of their 45 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:19.599 own mental health during this weird time, which we probably 46 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:22.840 all could use. So, as disastrologist doctor Sam Montano said 47 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:26.439 in her episode, people are much more pro social in 48 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:29.159 a crisis than we expect them to be. That's great news, 49 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:31.520 and in mister Rogers' words. 50 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:33.240 Always look for the helpers. 51 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:36.000 So let's chat with the dude with the Google form 52 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:39.759 about how to get involved and hopefully signal boosting this 53 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:42.719 will help get this database into the hands of government 54 00:02:42.759 --> 00:02:45.199 agencies that will use it and put it into action. 55 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:47.919 So this is a bonus episode, so it's ad free, 56 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.240 but a donation was still made to the LA Food Bank, 57 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:52.000 and I would not be able to do those things 58 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:54.400 or make the donations to causes each week without the 59 00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:56.840 folks at patreon dot com slash ologies, So while I 60 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:59.400 was at it, I asked patrons how people have been 61 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:03.000 helping them, how they are helping family and friends and 62 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:06.639 maybe strangers, and for some of their self help suggestions, 63 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:09.439 which I'm all heirs for and just a heads up. 64 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:12.759 So this episode has fewer asides than usual, just for 65 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.360 a much quicker turnaround, and it's more of a raw 66 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:19.599 conversation than most episodes. Also, the first ten minutes or so, 67 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:22.919 I asked this ologist a bunch of questions about his 68 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:27.319 backstory because he's really amazing and relatable and inspiring and 69 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:29.360 it's just really interesting. And I want us all to 70 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:34.039 remember that scientists and neighbors and healthcare workers and grocery 71 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:37.919 stockers are all people with these incredible stories. And the 72 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:40.520 more we remember that, the less alone we feel. So 73 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:43.240 if you need some updates on this illness and a 74 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:45.879 healthy dose of hope, you have come to the right place. 75 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:49.520 So hunker down, get cozy, and prepare to feel inspired 76 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:52.879 by the folks out there who have our backs, including 77 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:56.479 de facto community organizer working from an extra desk in 78 00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:20.040 his apartment, and professional neurobiologist doctor Michael F. Wells. So, Hi, 79 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:21.160 thanks for talking to me. 80 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:22.759 Sure, of course. 81 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:25.519 You've had a busy couple of days. 82 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:30.560 Yes, I've not slept much. I'm supposed to be doing 83 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:34.920 other work as a scientist, but I've been focusing on 84 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:36.920 this pretty much NonStop since Wednesday. 85 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:39.519 And can you tell me a little bit about what 86 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:41.120 your work at Harvard Entails. 87 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:42.399 Yes. 88 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:47.240 Yeah, So I'm a post doctoral researcher, which means I 89 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:50.079 already have my PhD, but I don't yet have my 90 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:53.120 own lab. And so I work for a guy named 91 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:56.720 Kevin Eggan at Harvard in the stem cell department. And 92 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:59.720 so what I do is I take human stem cells 93 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:05.000 and I convert them to human brain cells in a dish. Yeah, 94 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:07.879 And if you might wonder where those stem cells came from, 95 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:11.000 we can actually harvest or we can actually take cells, 96 00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:16.079 say from your blood or your hair. Some have started 97 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:19.680 taking it from urine, and we can convert those cells 98 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:22.879 into stem cells. And then we can take those cells 99 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:26.000 and make them into many, many different cell types so 100 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.879 that we can study diseases in these cell types that 101 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:33.120 are actually impacted by that disease. And so the disease 102 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:35.199 I've been studying for the past four years or so 103 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:40.959 has been the xgovirus infections. So I take stem cells 104 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:43.800 and I make them into fetal brain cells, or at 105 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:45.920 least cells that resemble fetal brain cells. 106 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:49.639 So Mike recently made a discovery about how one's genetic 107 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:53.480 background influences your susceptibility to Z cut infection. Like, no 108 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:57.240 big deal, just did that. I recently repotted a plant 109 00:05:57.319 --> 00:05:59.160 I've kept alive for a year or so. I get 110 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:02.439 it to his work at Harvard. He got his bachelor's 111 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:05.800 in biology a Notre Dame and his PhD from Duke 112 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:10.480 in neurobiology working with mouse models studying the genetics of 113 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:14.399 ADHD and autism. So we're all just a bunch of 114 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:18.000 lumpy brains helping other lumpy brains. Sometimes be a mice, 115 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:18.959 just like, what. 116 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:23.519 Are the mechanisms from the gene that leads to the 117 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:26.879 disordered behaviors? And you actually see some of these behaviors 118 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:29.079 in a mouse. Of course, it's a mouse model. It's 119 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:32.519 not perfect. And that's partially why when I moved to 120 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:36.000 Harvard for my postoc in twenty fifteen, that I switched 121 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.079 to studying human cells in a dish. I was much 122 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:41.959 more interested in studying the human condition. And I also 123 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:46.720 became quite severely allergic to mice over the course of 124 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.920 the Yeah, so if you work with mice for eight 125 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.040 hours a day for six years, you know they will 126 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:56.839 get their revenge on you if you don't properly cover 127 00:06:56.920 --> 00:07:00.120 your mouth and make sure you're not inhaling all the 128 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:04.759 irritants that they release taste it. So yeah, I can 129 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:06.759 still work with my suges, has to be quite limited 130 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:07.839 interaction with them. 131 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:11.639 Oh my gosh, Now did you have a microscope when 132 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:13.560 you were a kid. When did you start getting into science? 133 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:18.720 Uh, it's a very good question. There's a book, the 134 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:22.680 first book on my bookshelf, top of the bookshelf, far left. 135 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:27.600 It's called The Power of Believing in Yourself and it's 136 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:30.079 written by a guy whose name I believe is Spencer Johnson. 137 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:35.680 He wrote this book about Louis Pasture and I read 138 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:38.319 this when I was It's the first book I remember 139 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:42.480 ever reading. But it's about how Louise Pasture created the 140 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:46.839 treatment for abies. So we now have if you get raby's, 141 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:50.160 it's no longer death sentence because of Louis Pasture's discovery. 142 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:52.879 And so I remember being five or six years old 143 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:55.199 and just thinking like, oh wow, this one guy in 144 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:59.680 a lab like dramatically changed the course of human history 145 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:03.720 by eliminating this disease from the list of things I 146 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:08.079 could wipe us out if it spreads. And so that 147 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:10.560 influenced me at a pretty young age. You know, I 148 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:13.480 didn't really come from a family that had a lot 149 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:17.439 and so it was mainly through books that I developed 150 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:21.480 this interest in science, and so by the time I 151 00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:24.160 was in high school, I was more interested in biology 152 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:29.399 and trying to understand how the human body works. And 153 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:33.240 I thought I was going to go to college to 154 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:39.200 prepare for medical school. But I quickly realized that I 155 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:45.240 can't see someone having their blood drawn, and even talking 156 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.480 about it, you can hear my voice slowing down and 157 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:53.519 I'm trying not to pass out. And I realized that 158 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:57.639 if I can't see a blood trawl, yeah, I probably 159 00:08:57.639 --> 00:09:00.519 shouldn't go into a field in which that is something 160 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:05.440 that you will see commonly. Even if you're not doing yourself, 161 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:10.240 you will see it. So I remember I went home 162 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:14.759 for thanksgaving break while as a sophomore at the university 163 00:09:14.840 --> 00:09:17.240 that are Dame, and this is kind of when I realized, like, 164 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:20.600 I don't want to be a medical doctor. And so 165 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:24.080 I went home and on my bed was a National 166 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:28.320 Geographic magazine and the cover was a guy with all 167 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:31.600 these electrodes on his head, and so I was like, okay, 168 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:33.919 I'll do that. I'll be a neuroscientist. And that's pretty 169 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:36.120 much all the thought that I put into it. It 170 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:40.360 was just something that I just I saw a picture. 171 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:43.919 I'm like, Okay, I'll do that. And so I think 172 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:49.879 you're seeing a theme here that I'm easily influenced by media. 173 00:09:49.960 --> 00:09:53.600 So who knew that zycom could change minds in so 174 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:55.600 few steps? Just from it is? 175 00:09:56.039 --> 00:10:00.120 It is a very very powerful medium. And I and 176 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:02.960 stress enough how important it is for people growing up 177 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.639 in low income houses like what I how I grew up. 178 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.759 I didn't know as scientist until I got to college, 179 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:13.200 and even then I don't quite understand what they were doing. 180 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.919 A lot of people growing up the way I did 181 00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:19.000 or just not exposed to these things and don't even 182 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:22.559 know one that it's an option, and two they don't 183 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:25.240 know what the job entails. And if they did know 184 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:27.879 those two things, they don't necessarily know the third factor, 185 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:31.240 which just had to get into this system. You know, 186 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:35.799 Academia is very competitive and there's a lot of internal 187 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:39.200 challenges you have just feeling like you belong. I'm actually 188 00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:42.320 a Salvador in my mom's from Al Salvador, and I 189 00:10:42.360 --> 00:10:45.360 actually never felt like I mean, you could see in 190 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:48.639 this skype, I'm not that dark skin to like all 191 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:50.720 my family is much tanner than me. If I never 192 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:52.440 felt like I was being held back because I was 193 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:55.200 a minority. However, I did feel like I was being 194 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:59.559 held back because I did not come from a house 195 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.759 that had a lot a lot of money or power 196 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:05.879 or whatever how you refer to it. And that becomes 197 00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:09.519 very challenging in academia because you are working with people 198 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:14.440 whose parents were biochemists or you know, mathematicians, and you 199 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:18.240 know they might come from from different from backgrounds that 200 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:20.080 made it a little easier for them to get to 201 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:22.399 where they are and to feel comfortable where they are. 202 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:24.919 And I think that is you hear this term a 203 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:27.960 lot imposter syndrome in academia, and it comes from people 204 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:31.200 not feeling that they belong because they see what the 205 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:33.639 backgrounds of those around them in academia. And I do 206 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:36.919 think that the most powerful way of overcoming that and 207 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:41.240 getting our field beyond that is through early science communication. 208 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:44.080 That said, one kid science show I did for Netflix 209 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:47.519 is called Brainchild, and they have free lesson plans in curricula. 210 00:11:47.639 --> 00:11:51.679 If anyone is homeschooling the kiddos now and need some resources, 211 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.039 you can go to brainchildshow dot com to download them 212 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:55.759 for free. I'll link that in the show notes in 213 00:11:55.799 --> 00:11:58.720 case it helps. Also, my science show Innovation Nation with 214 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:01.559 Moroccos on Saturday morning on CBS. And my other show 215 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:03.759 did I mentioned, Invention is on Saturdays on the CW. 216 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.080 Also Mission Unstoppable another great science show for kids, particularly girls. 217 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:10.240 I don't work on it, but it's very good. Also, 218 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:13.399 my friend Emily Grassley makes great YouTube videos on her 219 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:16.960 channel Brainscoop. Doctor Joe Hanson hosts It's Okay to Be 220 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.519 Smart for PBS. I love his stuff. My friend Derek 221 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:24.639 Muller hosts veritassium videos on YouTube. Lepidopterology guest Phil Torres 222 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:27.639 has his Jungle Diaries YouTube series. I'm going to make 223 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:30.559 a list of links in case you need kid friendly 224 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:32.919 things to watch that don't have swear words, which I'm 225 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:35.360 trying very hard to avoid in this episode, so that 226 00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:37.480 you pass it around to other people and we fix 227 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:40.080 this problem. Okay, let's get back to Mike. So he 228 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:43.000 has a manuscript he needs to be working on right now, 229 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:45.600 but he's working from a small office at home to 230 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.799 become this community organizer with this project. And he has 231 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.159 a little experience in this, having worked on the Obama 232 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:53.759 campaign in two thousand and eight. But he did have 233 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:56.440 to cut the job short halfway through his six week stint, 234 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:59.639 because I'm gonna let him explain. 235 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:04.879 I mistakenly thought that I had an unlimited phone plan 236 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:15.440 and I did it. Uh So, I remember I was 237 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:16.960 in the field office and I got a call from 238 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:20.480 my mom and she was just like, Mike, we just 239 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.879 got a six hundred and fifty dollars bill from Verizon. 240 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:26.840 Did you make X number of calls? And like, uh, yeah, 241 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:29.080 but we shouldn't matter, right, She's like, no, we got 242 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:32.600 rid of that option like six months ago. So I 243 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.360 was trying to save up for grad school at the 244 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:36.840 point at that point, so I had to quit and 245 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:39.159 I ended up working in a daycare center for the 246 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.039 rest of the summer, teaching kids science. 247 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:44.360 Oh my gosh, that's I guess just consider that a 248 00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:46.639 donation to the campaign, right, yes? 249 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:49.320 Oh yeah, God, that's pretty rough. 250 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:51.720 Tell me a little bit about what you're organizing. Do 251 00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:52.559 you have a name for it yet? 252 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:58.759 No? I mean the form is called COVID nineteen Pandemic 253 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:03.720 Scientists volunteer for And essentially what I have done is 254 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:07.919 this past Wednesday, So it was whatever that March eighteenth. 255 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:11.840 March eighteenth, it was the last day that my lab 256 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:14.600 was going to be open for the next two months. 257 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:17.960 I again, I've been studying zecovirus for four years now, 258 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:21.000 so I have all the skills necessary to perform the 259 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:24.559 COVID nineteen testing, and so I was really hoping that 260 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:29.080 at some point, as places start ramping up their testing capacities, 261 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:34.159 that I would have the opportunity to start working at 262 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:37.840 a facility to just help out, you know, in the efforts. 263 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:42.159 And so I you know, I'm pretty active on Twitter, 264 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:44.360 and I've seen that there were these sign up forms 265 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:48.159 in Seattle and in the Bay area. I later learned 266 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:51.440 there's one that was being widely distributed for the New 267 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:54.080 York area. But what I hadn't seen yet was something 268 00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:56.600 for Boston. And I hadn't seen anything that was trying 269 00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:59.919 to aggregate all these different sources into one central location. 270 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.159 And so essentially what I did was I created a 271 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:06.240 form in which I'm asking for contact information from scientists, 272 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:10.080 asking them if they have experience in certain techniques that 273 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:13.279 are required for testing, and then asked them if they 274 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:17.039 have any sort of reagents or kits or equipment that 275 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:20.159 they can donate to these testing facilities. 276 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:23.679 So now remember he just started this on Wednesday, and 277 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:26.639 I talked to him yesterday, which was Friday evening. 278 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:32.240 So that was about fifty hours ago. And we now 279 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:37.840 have three thousand, three hundred and sixty eight respondents. Oh yeah, 280 00:15:37.879 --> 00:15:42.840 So these scientists were very, very eager to help out, 281 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.960 like we're we're doing our you know again, a lot 282 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:47.919 of us are at home right now. We have the skills, 283 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:52.080 we just need to be, you know, added to the team. 284 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:56.480 And I do want to say something about how this 285 00:15:57.080 --> 00:16:01.919 spread so quickly. It's I need to give some credit 286 00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:05.399 to a few people. One is my friend Justin Bretta, 287 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:08.600 who is in the band glitch Mob. They're like an 288 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:12.120 EDM group. One is a musician based in la Her 289 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.919 name is Eloheim. And another's my friend Michael Angelakis, who's 290 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:18.320 the lead singer of the band Passion Pit. What I 291 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:21.600 did was, after I created the form, I texted them 292 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:23.639 and said, I'm about to post something on Twitter. Can 293 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:27.120 you please retweet it? So it is their audience, and 294 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:30.519 you know, they have thousands of thousands of followers. And 295 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.840 then Justin actually then reached out to a man by 296 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:36.200 the name of Tim Ferriss, who has one point six 297 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:40.960 million followers. So once that happened, he retweeted it. Then 298 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:43.840 Drew Carey, a comedian that I've adored since I was 299 00:16:43.879 --> 00:16:47.120 a child, he retweeted, so it reached a very very 300 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:50.759 wide audience. And then you, of course retweeted my efforts 301 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.799 a few hours later, So it reached a very wide 302 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.559 audience and have been a very short period of time. 303 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:01.120 And I think that's what really helped accelerate this because 304 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.679 then once those scientists started filling out the form, they 305 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:05.400 then send it to other scientists that they know. 306 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:11.440 So essentially your viral form when viral also yes, which 307 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:14.400 is like wonderful when it's something good, but also a 308 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:17.759 terrifying display of how quickly something can spread quickly. 309 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:21.599 I mean, as I'm watching this form being filled out 310 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:23.920 in real time, you do see. I mean it's been 311 00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:26.200 exponentials in forty hours. You know, we went from thirty 312 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:29.480 responses in the first twenty minutes to you know, I 313 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:31.880 think by last night there's about fifteen hundred and now 314 00:17:31.880 --> 00:17:36.960 there's an additional two thousand today, so it is growing exponentially. Obviously, 315 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:39.319 can hit a plateau once all the scientists do who 316 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:42.200 do have these abilities are reached and they built the 317 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:45.079 form of they're willing to so it will hit a 318 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:49.960 plateau hopefully that hopefully doesn't happen in silicresta as wide 319 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:51.200 an audience as possible. 320 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:54.599 As of my recording these sides on Saturday night, he 321 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:59.519 now has four seven hundred and sixty three scientists from 322 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:03.480 forty nine states, Puerto Rico and Guam. And of course 323 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:05.680 I asked him which state was lagging. I see you 324 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:09.480 forty nine and I guessed Idaho. I'm sorry, Idaho, but no, 325 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:15.519 you ready for this? It's Wyoming, Wyoming. Come on, someone 326 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:19.279 from Wyoming. Just pull up the freaking caboose. The tiny 327 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:21.759 url for the Google form, by the way, is TinyURL 328 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:24.920 dot com slash COVID nineteen cy volunteers. And no, you 329 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:27.000 do not have to write that down. It's linked in 330 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:28.799 the show notes. Wyoming. 331 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:30.680 Good luck. We're a counting on you. 332 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:34.599 And now let's talk a little bit about how testing 333 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:36.599 is done. I mean, you work with zica, so you're 334 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:42.119 familiar with viruses that are zoonotic in origin. How do 335 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:44.759 you even test for COVID nineteen and why isn't it happening? 336 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:51.480 So those are two different issues in my opinion. So 337 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.519 to answer your first question, how the basic tests for 338 00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:58.279 the presence of a virus is you get the sample, 339 00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:01.920 and that could be it could be these no swabs 340 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:04.880 that you're seeing on TikTok that look extremely painful and 341 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.799 put in that thing way back there. But what they're 342 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:10.839 trying to do is they're trying to get a sample 343 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:13.880 from your body that either does or does not have 344 00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:15.960 the virus. And these are areas that if you did 345 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.599 have the virus, it's likely the virus be present in 346 00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:21.039 your spit. It's like to be present in the back 347 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.119 of your knows. The reason for that is this virus, 348 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:26.480 in particular, it tends to infect the respiratory system. We 349 00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:30.920 would take that sample and in this case it's RNA. 350 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:34.720 This is an RNA virus. So you may be aware 351 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:36.440 of what DNA is. I think most people know what 352 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:39.160 DNA is, what RNA is, What the DNA becomes when 353 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:41.480 you're trying to make a protein, you have this intermediate 354 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:45.480 step of RNA. So this virus is just an RNA virus. 355 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:48.119 That's pretty much what is being transferred for one person 356 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:51.319 to another. It's a piece of RNA that is encapsulated 357 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:53.920 by an envelope. And this is why when you wash 358 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:56.359 your hands, you kill the virus because that envelope gets 359 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:01.039 degraded by soap, and RNA not last a very long 360 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:03.559 time without that envelope. So this is why it's so 361 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:06.240 important to wash your hands. So essentially what happens is 362 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:12.279 we then will take that sample extract the RNA. And 363 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:13.759 that's a very key step that I'll get to in 364 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:17.839 a second. We extract the RNA, we convert it back 365 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:21.359 to DNA, and then we run what's called a plimerase 366 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:24.640 chain reaction. So you might have heard a PCR. Someone 367 00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:27.039 won a Nobel Prize in nineteen ninety three, I believe, 368 00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:30.240 for creating this machine that amplifies DNA. 369 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:32.559 Okay, so I wasn't going to look this up. This 370 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:34.480 was supposed to be a minisode. But you know what, 371 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:36.960 we're in this and frankly a lot of us have 372 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:38.960 nowhere to be. So I googled who the winner of 373 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:41.240 the nineteen ninety three Nobel Prize in chemistry was, and 374 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:43.440 turns out it was the best decision I've made so 375 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:46.880 far in quarantine, since buying several tins of smoked trout. 376 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:51.279 So according to his sadly recent twenty nineteen obituary in 377 00:20:51.319 --> 00:20:55.519 the La Times, Carrie B. Mullis was an LSD dropping 378 00:20:55.960 --> 00:21:01.759 climate change denying, astrology believing SURFA Nobel Prize winning chemist 379 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:05.519 who was both widely respected and equally criticized for his 380 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.400 controversial views. So what did he do? All right? His 381 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:12.400 history changing process involves taking a segment of DNA and 382 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:15.640 heating it until it unzips, and then looking for a 383 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:19.079 specific segment of DNA and then zipping it back together 384 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:23.559 via an enzyme or polymerase with free floating building blocks, 385 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:28.480 the AGTC nucleotides, and then doing a chain reaction of 386 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:30.839 that so that each copy makes two copies, and so 387 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:32.759 on and so on, and you're able to replicate a 388 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:38.160 ton of that segment, so a polymerase chain reaction PCR. Now, 389 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:41.759 Mullis came up with the idea while driving down the highway. 390 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:44.200 Just came up with this idea that changed the world. 391 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:47.079 He once said, quote, I think really good science doesn't 392 00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:49.839 come from hard work. The striking advances come from the 393 00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:53.799 people on the fringes, being playful, he playfully said, from 394 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:56.519 the fringes side. Note, he was drunk the morning he 395 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:58.960 found out that he won the Nobel Prize alongside chemist 396 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:02.359 Michael Smith, who was probably not drunk. Mollis then celebrated 397 00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:05.680 the win by going surfing. I am trying so hard 398 00:22:05.720 --> 00:22:10.039 not to swear during this episode. So hm, hot dog, 399 00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:12.799 what a life? Maybe let that be a lesson to 400 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:15.640 just chill out while in isolation. Don't work so hard, 401 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:19.519