WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:03.560 Oh hey, just a quick preamble, a little update. Today 2 00:00:03.799 --> 00:00:08.160 is March eighteenth. This was recorded just about a week ago, 3 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:10.359 not that long ago at all, but already go a 4 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:12.080 lot of updates. And I just want to let you 5 00:00:12.119 --> 00:00:14.880 know that I reached out to doctor Shannon Bennett and 6 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:17.000 asked if she had anything else she wanted to let 7 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:19.480 us know, just as a quick update on this, and 8 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:23.039 she said, quote daily, new confirmed cases are growing in 9 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:25.600 number exponentially here in the US. And that is in 10 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:28.120 light of one of the lowest per capita testing rates 11 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:32.119 worldwide by country. That's twenty six tests per million people 12 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:34.799 as of March tenth. And that means that even though 13 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:37.479 we all recognize that confirmed cases are just the tip 14 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.799 of the iceberg of actual infections, in the US, our 15 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:44.719 iceberg is particularly submerged. In short, it's time to take 16 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:49.560 social distancings seriously and flatten the curve. So this episode 17 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:52.039 will tell you what you need to know about COVID nineteen, 18 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:54.840 how it spreads, how it affects the human body, and 19 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:57.479 why it's so important right now to isolate. So if 20 00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:02.359 you are isolating social distance, seeing staying in, staying out 21 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:05.040 at the bars, we can do this y'all, I myself 22 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:08.000 haven't left the house since Thursday. It's very cozy. So 23 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:10.959 thanks for listening to this, thanks for staying informed. And 24 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.879 here is the broadcast that came out on March tenth. 25 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:19.400 Stay safe, wash your hands. Oh hey, it's your friend 26 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:22.359 who washes her hands roughly five times more often than 27 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:25.200 she did last week. Allie Wood back with a spech 28 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:28.760 ep of ologies. So this episode is coming out March tenth, 29 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:31.359 and it was not even conceived of until a few 30 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:34.079 days ago. But guess what we need it. I wanted it, 31 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:36.359 we made it. So pass it on to anyone who 32 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.799 needs a distillation of what the hell is going on 33 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:42.439 and how much we should be freaking out. It's fascinating, 34 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.840 its informative. I'm so glad these ologists were available. But first, 35 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:49.480 kind of a secret up top. I mentioned last year 36 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:51.439 as a secret at the end of an episode that 37 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:53.599 I was shooting a new show for Netflix, And y'all, 38 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:57.400 it finally comes out this week on March thirteenth, this Friday. 39 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:01.040 It's called one hundred Humans, and it's bananas. We got 40 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:04.159 one hundred people who represent the demographics of the United States, 41 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:09.800 and alongside social psychologists and statisticians ran them through experiments 42 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:11.919 to see if people are more biased than they than 43 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:15.120 they are, and if having fun makes you more productive, 44 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:18.479 and if the placebo effect works in New age SPA 45 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:22.039 treatments and what age group could build furniture the fastest. 46 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:25.520 It's wild. It's out March thirteenth. It's on Netflix. Please 47 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:28.000 do watch it. Tweet about it. The hashtag is one 48 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:30.960 hundred humans. Okay. Also, thank you to everyone who has 49 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:34.000 ever contributed to patreon dot com slash ologies and made 50 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.240 the show possible. Thanks everyone who's out there where in 51 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:38.800 ologies merch, and for everyone who boosts the show and 52 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:41.240 keeps it up among the science giants, just by rating 53 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:43.520 it and making sure you're subscribed and texting links to 54 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.080 your friends like a virus. And of course those of 55 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:47.919 you who review it for me to creep and weep, 56 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:50.479 such as this week's from Booby rocks Out, who says 57 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:52.039 a dear dad word, I'm ready because I have some 58 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:53.879 rather big news I wanted to share with you. I 59 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:56.680 got into grad school. That was all caps. Sorry to 60 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:59.080 shout at you, but I'm just so very excited. Listening 61 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:01.560 to your wild and wacky podcast inspired me to finally 62 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:04.360 finally pursue my dream of a PhD. So thanks for 63 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:05.719 that and all the hard work you do to show 64 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:08.360 us that smart people are really just people like the 65 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:12.680 rest of us, awkward, gross funny, suffering from imposter syndrome 66 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.080 and all the rest. Booboo rocks out hell Yes to 67 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:18.319 a botany related episode one day, Go get him. Also, listener, 68 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:21.560 kg Demorst, happy to have put a scatological smile on 69 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:24.520 your face. Okay, virology, we're in it. Let's get into it. 70 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:27.000 I had planned to interview the director of Science at 71 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:30.719 the California Academy of Sciences, this batite, brunette badass, doctor 72 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:35.120 Shannon Bennett, for a colcidology episode about mosqueters and Skeeter 73 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:38.759 diseases and malaria and Dengey fever and Zeka. And I 74 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:41.879 arrived with your Patreon questions in hand, and as her 75 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:45.000 wonderful assistant Andrew was walking me down the hallway. Hey Andrew, 76 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:47.560 he mentioned that doctor Bennett had just given a talk 77 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:49.400 to all the staff members at the cal Academy of 78 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:53.560 Sciences about COVID nineteen. As she is a virologist, it 79 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:56.520 is very up on the topic and the research and 80 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:00.360 the outreach. Hot damn, I said, let's change this entire up. 81 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:04.199 We're doing virology, which comes from the Latin virus meaning 82 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:07.639 poisonous substance, which comes from the word for a sap 83 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:12.080 of plants or a slimy liquid, a potent juice, which is, 84 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:15.520 after all, what is dripping from our face openings, threatening 85 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:18.040 to kill friend and foe alike. And we're all pretty 86 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:20.480 scared and confused. Now. Because this is a really huge 87 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:22.879 and important topic, I figured, let's make this kind of 88 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:25.160 a bit of a salad with more than one ologist. 89 00:04:25.399 --> 00:04:27.680 Let's make it a speci app Let's get a little crazy. 90 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:31.600 I also reached out to previous guests, including disastrologists doctor 91 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:36.079 Samantha Montano. I sprinkled in some wisdom from disinfectanologist and 92 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:39.560 bleach chemist doctor Evan Rumberger, and also touched base with 93 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:44.279 beloved chiropterrologists doctor Merlin Tuttle about pointing our unwebbed fingers 94 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:48.240 accusationally toward the batcaves. But the backbone of this special 95 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:51.319 episode is doctor Shannon Bennett, who sat down for a 96 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:55.560 full length chat about her work and this new novel virus. 97 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.720 She's knowledgeable and passionate and addresses not only the genetics 98 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.600 of the virus, but the symptoms and infection rate and 99 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:06.199 prevention and testing, and how we should handle the fear 100 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.000 and the seeming chaos of a pandemic and what these 101 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:12.399 virus population curves mean. And if you're freaked out, that's okay, 102 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.319 but you will leave it feeling armed and empowered, I promise. 103 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:19.360 So wash your hands, calm your nerves, and feed your 104 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:23.040 brains with this bonanza of Corona with four ologists folks, 105 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:26.680 a disaster handler, a hygiene scientist, a batman, and, of course, 106 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:31.160 chief of Science at the California Academy of Sciences, virologist 107 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:52.560 doctor Shannon Bennett. Okay, I handed doctor Bennett at Mike 108 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:55.399 and instantly apologized that she had to touch something I 109 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:56.560 touched and we were off. 110 00:05:57.519 --> 00:05:58.399 I'm going to give you this. 111 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:03.240 I'm sorry that it's okay. We'll just watched later. Sure 112 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:08.120 we're impermeable, yes, right, yes, only if we take this 113 00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:10.399 and touch our eyes nose them out. We're washing. 114 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:12.439 So we're said, that's a good point. I got to 115 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:13.560 stop touching my face. 116 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:17.519 Fifth, on average, fifteen times an hour and ninety times 117 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:19.639 a day, we touch our face. Oh, we don't even 118 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:21.879 know it Are you serious? Yeah, And I think it's 119 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.240 part of our grooming heritage. You know, as primates, we 120 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:28.720 groom and we're always grooming, and we just don't even 121 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:29.120 know it. 122 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:31.480 And we can't touch other people's faces right. 123 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:34.279 Well, that you know. Socially we don't usually. 124 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:35.959 Do that either, but okay, good to know. 125 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:41.000 And you are a molecular epidemiologist, you are a virologist. 126 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:42.759 You've got a lot of ologies under your belts. 127 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:43.399 It's really fun. 128 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:46.360 Yeah, how many? You also microbiology too? 129 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:51.079 I call myself a microbiologist because I study viruses in 130 00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:53.519 the context of the rest of the microbial world they 131 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:59.120 live in. And so virologist and microbiologist why not? Yeah, 132 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:00.839 and molecular demiologist. 133 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:03.439 And you've got a busy week. You've got a busy 134 00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:04.480 couple of weeks, haven't you. 135 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:05.600 It's been very exciting. 136 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:11.240 Oh my goodness, your work, I know has. You've spent 137 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:15.120 a lot of your time looking at mosquitoes in malaria 138 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:20.079 and dengey fever. And you, yourself, I understand, have not 139 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:23.920 just been a doctor but also a patient in this right. 140 00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:27.439 Yes, yeah, I think you really have to know your 141 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:31.040 study organisms intimately. So what better way to do that 142 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:33.839 than to be a host yourself. It was not done 143 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:37.439 on purpose though, right part of the experience that led 144 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:39.519 to my origin stories as an ologist. 145 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:41.439 Can you tell me a little bit about like when 146 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:43.839 did you start looking at things that our microscopes? When 147 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:46.439 did you start wondering about how things jump from animals 148 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:47.800 to humans? When did it all happen? 149 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:53.279 Right? So I liked biology, I liked being outdoors. But 150 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:58.560 outdoors and biology that's a huge scope of things you 151 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:01.720 could focus on, and I have no focus. Until very 152 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:05.519 late in my undergraduate program, I had an opportunity to 153 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:08.480 go to West Africa and as a volunteer for the summer, 154 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:14.120 and I worked with communities to talk about primary health 155 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:17.319 care challenges but using theater. It was really interested in 156 00:08:17.399 --> 00:08:21.120 theater and as a teaching tool. And in the daytime 157 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:23.360 I taught Grade five math and in the evenings I 158 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:26.480 taught a theater program. 159 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:30.240 Y'all, this ologist journey started because she was a theater 160 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:31.759 nerd Oh my heart. 161 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:36.679 And like every good citizen, I went to my public 162 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:40.200 health professional and I got all the vaccines and antimallarial 163 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:44.000 medicines that I needed, and six weeks later I had 164 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:46.639 to Africa and within two weeks. 165 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:47.279 I caught malaria. 166 00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:50.960 Oh, and everybody said, this malaria is resistant to all 167 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:55.159 those anti malarias you Westerners are prescribing this mosquito worn parasite. 168 00:08:55.159 --> 00:08:55.960 It's not a virus. 169 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:59.440 Malaria is caused by a parasite a U carry out 170 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:03.240 really to us at the cellular level. It had evolved 171 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:07.000 resistance and continues to evolve resistance very rapidly. So that 172 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:13.279 was my first lesson. A things change, yes, then I 173 00:09:13.480 --> 00:09:17.879 so I was wrestling with malaria and the fever chills cycle. 174 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:22.000 That is a hallmark of that pathogen. And I picked 175 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:26.519 up amoebic dysentery. Oh yeah, so amoebic dysentery is caused 176 00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:30.000 by a little Also you carry out single celled animal 177 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:34.000 and to amba histolytica. So it hisstalytica comes from the 178 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:38.440 fact that it melts your tissues in your colon and 179 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:42.559 your intestine and creates bloody ulcers. And so the first 180 00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:46.000 hallmark is you look and you see bloody stool. So 181 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:47.919 I saw a lot of blood in my stool. I 182 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:51.200 got a little concerned. Sure enough, I had amybic dysentery. 183 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:54.440 Still wrestling with fever chills from malaria. Oh my gosh, 184 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:58.360 so they shipped me off to a leper colony. Leprosy 185 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:02.639 is caused by a bacterium. 186 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:04.159 So they literally sent you to a leper. 187 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:05.759 Colony only place to get nursing care. 188 00:10:06.360 --> 00:10:10.039 I thought that was like a perhaps an exaggeration, but no. 189 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:12.440 It's true. I was hospitalized in a leper colony. They 190 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:15.399 had nursing care there, and leprosy. Even though there's a 191 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:19.080 lot of social stigma around leprosy, it actually is not 192 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:24.039 very infectious. It's transmitted through families, so it can look infectious, 193 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:27.480 just like coronavirus right now is being transmitted through families, 194 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:30.639 but it turns out that it's a combination of long 195 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:36.639 intimate exposure and genetic predisposition, so it's not very infectious. 196 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:39.519 So it was perfectly fine for me to be hospitalized 197 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:43.159 in a leper colony. It was a very very casual, 198 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:46.559 pleasant experience. But I saw lots of evidence of people 199 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:50.759 with leprosy or recovering from leprosy, and it typically causes 200 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:56.759 your lower extremities to atrophy and drop off eventually, so 201 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.600 that was interesting the understatement of the year. I had 202 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:04.240 also picked up a skin infection while I was there, 203 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:08.919 so we have microbes on our skin, a whole complement 204 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:13.039 of them, and one of them is a Staphylococcus bacterium oh, 205 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:16.559 which basically I had an open wound. I think it 206 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:18.919 was a mosquito bite that I'd scratched, or maybe it 207 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:20.840 was a cut on my leg, and it got infected 208 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:25.159 with staff and I was getting spiky fevers from staff, 209 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:27.799 so it striations down my leg and it was all 210 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:31.159 very exciting. So I had a double triple whammy of 211 00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:33.960 two U carry outs and a bacterium, and then I 212 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:37.039 was surrounded by a bacterial infection. So I had a 213 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:40.200 lot of time to languish in the hospital. You were 214 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:44.639 a hot mess and think about my plight and understand 215 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:49.039 that things were out there all the time. They're either 216 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:54.320 in human communities or non human communities. They're evolving, they're changing. 217 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:57.039 I came out of it with kind of a new 218 00:11:57.240 --> 00:12:02.840 a deep appreciation and admiration were the incredible diverse world 219 00:12:02.840 --> 00:12:07.240 of microorganisms, whether they're viruses or bacteria or eukaryots, and 220 00:12:07.399 --> 00:12:09.159 what it was to be a host and what it 221 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:12.440 was to be a parasite and conquer all these barriers. 222 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:15.240 Right like a worthy adversary type of respect. 223 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:19.039 They call it an arms race, and truly that's maybe 224 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.720 not quite fair because they have us beat in terms 225 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.600 of being able to evolve more rapidly and have more 226 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:26.279 on the line. 227 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:30.440 Right, So doctor Bennett says that viruses are under a 228 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:34.759 lot of pressure to be really good at being effective parasites, 229 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:38.120 whereas we have to defend ourselves against all kinds of things, 230 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:42.320 not just these viruses, so we're outsmarted mostly in speaking 231 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:44.600 of smarts. She went on to get her Bachelors of 232 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:48.440 Science in biology from McGill University and her PhD in 233 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:52.559 zoology from the University of British Columbia, but that was 234 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:56.480 after she recovered from her hands on experience with pathogens 235 00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:58.600 and how did you keep your spirits up when you 236 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.039 were in a leper colony with three diseases. 237 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:06.840 It was incredibly inspiring to see people with leprosy making 238 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:10.159 a positive contribution to their own lives, in each other's lives. 239 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:12.840 It was a They called these leper colonies because they're 240 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:19.559 ostracized and they basically they worked together. They have an economy, 241 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:23.919 they were creating crafts, and they were innovating ways of 242 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.960 sustainable farming before the rest of the world was even 243 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:31.039 thinking about it, so, you know, caging animals over fish ponds, 244 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:33.360 so the poop went fertilized the fishes, and then they 245 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:36.559 had this sort of way of you know, keeping the 246 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:39.519 whole thing going. So it was a very admirable approach 247 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:43.120 to living with a disease. Yeah, and then while I 248 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.159 was in the Leper colony, there was an attempted coup. 249 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:50.240 This was in Liberia in nineteen eighty nine, so it 250 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:54.519 was the first harbinger of the nineteen ninety one Civil War. 251 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:58.440 So I was there, I was I heard all the gunshots, 252 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:02.120 machine gun fire. I'm so, I don't have deep experience 253 00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:07.679 with firearms. Anyway, it was on such an intense scale 254 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:12.759 that it was incredible. And it was while I was 255 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:17.080 in the leper colony that I thought I was almost 256 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:20.600 thankful for being there, thankful for being sick and in 257 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:23.960 a lepar colony with all the stigma that implies. And 258 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:28.679 they basically avoided us entirely, went through the village where 259 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:34.480 it was definitely there were deaths and other atrocities of war, 260 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:37.879 and we were completely isolated and protected from that. 261 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:40.480 I was never complaining about anything again. Ever. 262 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:42.919 Parasites saved my life, Oh my god. 263 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.399 And Now, when it comes to viruses, is a virus 264 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:49.600 a parasite? What is a virus? What does it look like? 265 00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:51.000 What are we dealing with? 266 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:55.559 So I consider the term parasite, and many do as 267 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:57.879 more of a way of life than it is a 268 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:02.120 particular branch of the tree of life, because parasite literally 269 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:04.679 means to dine at another's table. It comes from a 270 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:07.159 Greek word. So it's really a way of making your 271 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:11.480 way in the world, and it's evolved independently across many, 272 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:17.080 many different groups of living organisms. Bacteria can be parasitic, 273 00:15:17.159 --> 00:15:21.600 viruses can be parasitic eukaryotes, and then across the tree 274 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:24.399 of life, many different kinds of eukaryots can be parasitic, 275 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:29.440 from single celled organisms like Giardia or antomium or plasmodium 276 00:15:29.480 --> 00:15:32.879 which causes malaria, all the way to nematodes and tapeworms 277 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:36.360 and flatworms and all those great wormy stuff. So it's 278 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:37.080 a way of life. 279 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:38.320 It's a choice. 280 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:38.639 Now. 281 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:44.240 Arguably, many folks do not classify viruses themselves as living 282 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:47.840 organisms because they kind of cheat and use the host 283 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:52.559 cellular machinery to metabolize, is what everyone's dickering about. Oh 284 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:54.240 but I consider them a life worm. 285 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:57.879 What are the basic components of a virus and what's 286 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:01.039 the difference between an RNA virus. It's like, what when 287 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:04.120 you've got this spiky little glob coming to take over 288 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:05.480 your life, what is it equipped with? 289 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:11.320 So viruses are fairly simplified, but they're very diverse, and 290 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:16.399 they're not even one single lineage. So when we talk 291 00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:22.080 about viruses, they probably arose multiple times, or if they didn't, 292 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:24.399 and if they evolved from the same ancestor we can't 293 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:27.320 track it back far enough in time to say one 294 00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:31.000 way or the other. They have a fairly simple structure, 295 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:33.679 and it depends on which group of viruses you're talking about. 296 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:37.080 The viruses I work on have a simple what we 297 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:42.200 call a nucleocapsid sort of like a lipid bilayer membrane 298 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:46.360 with proteins that stick off of it, and that membrane 299 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:50.440 structure contains the genetic information of the virus, and then 300 00:16:50.519 --> 00:16:54.840 that's it. So genetic information, some kind of coating, and 301 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:57.399 then some proteins that stick off the end. In the 302 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:00.519 case of viruses that infect you caryotes, they use these 303 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:04.160 proteins to bind to the host cell and then fuse 304 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:07.359 into the host cell, past the host membrane into the 305 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:11.079 cellular body of the host cell, and then that's where 306 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:13.400 they pick up all this other you know, these other 307 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:16.680 functions they need. They co op the host genome to 308 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:20.079 make the building blocks that they need to replicate their genome. 309 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:24.000 So imagine a double layer outside that has all these 310 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:27.960 very fetching protein accessories that just stick on to your cells. 311 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.200 Just bust into them and then hack your coating to 312 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:34.000 make more of itself. It's slick, also impolite. 313 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:36.839 And then depending on the kind of genome, and that too, 314 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:40.319 is very diverse across the different viral groups. So there 315 00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:45.400 are viruses with double stranded DNA genomes like ours, and 316 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:50.160 there are viruses with single stranded RNA genomes like the 317 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:55.680 new novel coronavirus and the mosquito boring viruses I study, 318 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:59.960 and the flavy Viridae family, which includes dngay and zika. 319 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:04.200 Talking a little bit about the novel coronavirus, why is 320 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.839 it called the novel coronavirus? Why is it COVID nineteen 321 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:11.799 and how long have we even had an inkling that 322 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:12.920 it existed? 323 00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:16.240 So it's gotten a new name. Now we got all 324 00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:19.640 on the same page, and we are calling it. The 325 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:28.920 name officially is SARS coronavirus two a sequel, okay, So 326 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:34.640 it's SARS stands for Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome virus so 327 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:39.519 coronavirus CoV. And there was a STARS coronavirus. It emerged 328 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:41.759 in late two thousand and two two thousand and three 329 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:46.119 in Hong Kong via a wet market similar to this situation, 330 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:51.440 and it's about eighty percent related to this coronavirus. So 331 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:55.400 that's why we're calling it SARS coronavirus two. 332 00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:56.039 Okay. 333 00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:59.599 It has even closer relatives in known viruses that are 334 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:03.240 out there in twenty fifteen twenty seventeen, some of those 335 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:08.000 viruses are up to ninety six percent related to this virus. 336 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:11.720 So in theory, we've known about this particular virus or 337 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:16.720 at least it's very very close relatives since twenty fifteen, 338 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:20.400 maybe even for twenty seventeen. But we didn't know about 339 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:25.839 this specific virus until it was first documented in China 340 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:29.559 in the city of Wuhan and associated with a case 341 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:33.400 cluster around a market, a wholesale it's called a seafood 342 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:36.839 market one on seafood wholesale seafood market, but it sells 343 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:42.200 lots of other different kinds of things, including live animals, 344 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.200 wild and domesticated animals, so it's a very It's got 345 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:49.079 lots of different potential bridge vectors of bridge animals that 346 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:53.279 could have brought the virus from a bat reservoir to humans, 347 00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:58.279 but we don't know. And that case cluster was right 348 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:02.599 around the end of December December three, twenty nineteen. So 349 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:08.480 the disease that this is causing, it's called coronavirus disease. 350 00:20:08.839 --> 00:20:12.519 So the name of that is called COVID nineteen. So 351 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:14.519 that's where COVID nineteen comes from. 352 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:17.559 Oh got it for the year, Okay. 353 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:20.079 For the year and for the disease. So it's just 354 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:25.519 like HIV is human immuno deficiency virus. Oh, okay, and 355 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:31.880 the disease is AIDS. So same thing. HIV virus AIDS 356 00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:35.799 is the disease SARS. COVID two is the virus. COVID 357 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:37.480 nineteen is the disease. 358 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:41.039 Oh that makes so much sense. Yeah, okay, So COVID 359 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:48.759 nineteen corona viral disease from twenty nineteen, COVID nineteen. Also, 360 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:53.000 after doing a chiropterology episode, I know that bats get 361 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:54.799 a lot of flack, They take a lot of guano 362 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:56.799 from us, And then how do they know that it 363 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:59.480 wasn't from a snake that a bat aid or do 364 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:02.000 they know for sure that it was the bats because 365 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:05.200 the bats are so leaguered when it comes to infectious diseases. 366 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:09.359 So for bats it depends. Actually bats are hit way 367 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:15.000 harder by fungi and with viruses, maybe it depends. So 368 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.559 the way right now, all we know is based on 369 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:24.680 the genetic information that the virus we're collecting now shares 370 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:30.599 with viruses that were collected from other bats. There was 371 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:35.440 also viruses that were collected kind of accidentally from a 372 00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:38.920 survey of other animals, and in this case it was 373 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:43.240 a pangolin, And we call it metagenomic because we were 374 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:47.440 just people were characterizing the entire genetic soup without maybe 375 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:50.799 looking for this in particular. Out there in nature, there 376 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:55.599 have been from independently from bats and from pangolins, sequences 377 00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:59.000 that look similar to this virus that was collected from 378 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:03.599 humans got it, But there's not been a direct link 379 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:07.839 to any particular animal in the market that could have 380 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:10.839 been the bridge vector, or even any particular bat in 381 00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:13.720 the market that could have been linked to this emergence event. 382 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:17.079 So it's all being done using circumstantial evidence of the 383 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:20.640 actual genetic relationship of the virus. And that's different from 384 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:26.160 SARS and SARS they actually went and sampled specimens in 385 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:29.079 the market and were able to draw a direct link. 386 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:34.000 So we're not there yet. We're using the genetic information 387 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:36.079 in the virus to say this is what it is. 388 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:39.440 Okay, So what does one do on a Saturday morning 389 00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:42.559 Hop on the horn with your favorite bad expert. So 390 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:45.599 I dialed up the bat phone where chiropterologist and bat 391 00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:49.279 conservationist doctor Merlin title of Merlin title dot Org was 392 00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:50.000 standing by. 393 00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:53.799 I wanted to get obviously your opinion and your expertise 394 00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:59.440 on coronavirus and how the bat conservation community is kind 395 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:03.599 of dealing with rumors and just about bats being in 396 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:05.720 the spotlight in a negative way. 397 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:12.359 Well, we're deeply concerned. I've had emergency requests from Malaysia, 398 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:15.400 China and Me and mar all just in the last 399 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:20.119 couple of days trying to head off eradication of bats. 400 00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:22.839 I'm sure that your bat line, your bat phone is 401 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:25.640