As the coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, companies and academic labs are racing to develop a vaccine that would help society get back to normal. But there could also be costs to moving too quickly.
WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, how the world’s most powerful country is handling covid-19, China’s decision to impose a security law on Hong Kong threatens a broader reckoning (10:04). And why mercenaries are still hired by African governments (18:30).
President Trump’s preferred coronavirus treatment is the focus of a new study suggesting it could cause more harm than good, but not everybody agrees. We discuss the fallout as trials around the world are paused and countries diverge over policy advice.
12:12 Are we rushing science?
Coronavirus papers are being published extremely quickly, while normally healthy scientific debate is being blown up in the world’s press. Is there a balancing act between timely research and accurate messaging?
18:49 One good thing
Our hosts pick out things that have made them smile in the last week, including hedgerow brews and a trip into the past using AI.
Recipe: Elderflower ‘Champagne’
Video: Denis Shiryaev restores historic footage with AI
22:30 The latest coronavirus research papers
Noah Baker takes a look through some of the key coronavirus papers of the last few weeks.
News: Coronavirus research updates
medRxiv: Full genome viral sequences inform patterns of SARS-CoV-2 spread into and within Israel
Harvard Library: Reductions in commuting mobility predict geographic differences in SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in New York City
Science: DNA vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques
First up this week, Staff Writer Jennifer Couzin-Frankel talks with host Sarah Crespi about a rare inflammatory response in children that has appeared in a number of COVID-19 hot spots. Next, Julian Dowdeswell, director of the Scott Polar Research Institute and professor of physical geography at the University of Cambridge, talks with producer Meagan Cantwell about tracing the retreat of Antarctica’s glaciers by examining the ocean floor. Finally, Kiki Sanford interviews author Danny Dorling about his new book, Slowdown: The End of the Great Acceleration―and Why It’s Good for the Planet, the Economy, and Our Lives.
A bar in the Swiss Alps. A megachurch in South Korea. Scientists are focusing on certain superspreading events that might be responsible for an outsized portion of coronavirus cases.Bojan Pancevski explains how this understanding could be key to reopening.
The first results from vaccine trials are in and they are encouraging, but scientists are still urging caution. We hear the lowdown on the types of vaccines being developed and what hope there is of rolling them out any time soon.
01:38 Trump vs the WHO
President Trump has given the WHO an ultimatum in a tweet, threatening to pull out of the organisation within 30 days unless unclear demands are met. We discuss what this means for the pandemic, the USA and the future of international health cooperation
12:06 Where are we with vaccines?
The first results from vaccine trials are in and they are encouraging, but scientists are still urging caution. We hear the lowdown on the types of vaccines being developed and what hope there is of rolling them out any time soon.
News: Coronavirus vaccine trials have delivered their first results — but their promise is still unclear
News: The race for coronavirus vaccines: a graphical guide
News: If a coronavirus vaccine arrives, can the world make enough?
25:20 One good thing
Our hosts pick out things that have made them smile in the last week, including hopeful antibody research, at-home sketch comedy and printable board games.
News: Potent human antibodies could inspire a vaccine
Video: Whiskers R we – SNL
Video:The wild affordable world of 1 Player Print’n’Play Games
Video:MORE of the Very Best Solitaire Print’n’Play Games
Video: Marble run league
Video: BBC goals at home (Only available in the UK)
30:04 The latest coronavirus research papers
Noah Baker takes a look through some of the key coronavirus papers of the last few weeks.
News: Coronavirus research updates
medRxiv: Saliva is more sensitive for SARS-CoV-2 detection in COVID-19 patients than nasopharangel swabs
Nature: Effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions to contain COVID-19 in China
Science: Changes in contact patterns shape the dynamics of the COVID-19 outbreak in China
New England Journal of Medicine:
Interview with Dr. Nicole Lurie on rapid vaccine development, including new tools to facilitate vaccine testing and manufacturing and persistent challenges.The need to rapidly develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 comes at a time of explosion in basic scientific understanding, including in areas such as genomics and structural biology, that is supporting a new era in vaccine development. Over the past decade, the scientific community and the vaccine industry have been asked to respond urgently to epidemics of H1N1 influenza, Ebola, Zika, and now SARS-CoV-2. An H1N1 influenza vaccine was developed relatively rapidly, largely because influenza-vaccine technology was well developed and key regulators had previously decided that vaccines made using egg- and cell-based platforms could be licensed under the rules used for a strain change. Although a monovalent H1N1 vaccine was not available before the pandemic peaked in the Northern Hemisphere, it was available soon afterward as a stand-alone vaccine and was ultimately incorporated into commercially available seasonal influenza vaccines.
Nicole Lurie is a strategic advisor to the CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Stephen Morrissey, the interviewer, is the Executive Managing Editor of the Journal.
Staff Writer Jon Cohen joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about using monoclonal antibodies to treat or prevent infection by SARS-CoV-2. Many companies and researchers are rushing to design and test this type of treatment, which proved effective in combating Ebola last year. See all of our News coverage of the pandemic here, and all of our Research and Editorials here. And Karen Holl, a professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, joins Sarah to discuss the proper planning of tree-planting campaigns. It turns out that just putting a tree in the ground is not enough to stop climate change and reforest the planet.
Boomers Daily 