To the Bat Cave

05/11/20 • 54 min

To fight a pandemic, you need to first understand where a virus comes from. That quest takes disease ecologist Jon Epstein to gloomy caverns where bats hang out. There he checks up on hundreds of the animals as his team from the EcoHealth Alliance trace the origins of disease-causing viruses. But their important work is facing its own threat; the Trump administration recently terminated funding to the Alliance because of its collaboration with Chinese scientists.

Hear how Dr. Epstein finds the viruses, what kind of human activity triggers outbreaks, and how science counters the unsubstantiated claim that the virus escaped from a lab.

Guests:

Jon Epstein – Veterinary epidemiologist with the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance
Meredith Wadman – Staff writer for the journal Science. Read her article about the cancellation of the NIH bat coronavirus grant.

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Hear how Dr. Epstein finds the viruses, what kind of human activity triggers outbreaks, and how science counters the unsubstantiated claim that the virus escaped from a lab.

Guests:

Jon Epstein – Veterinary epidemiologist with the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance
Meredith Wadman – Staff writer for the journal Science. Read her article about the cancellation of the NIH bat coronavirus grant.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

Is Life Inevitable? (Rebroadcast)

A new theory about life’s origins updates Darwin’s warm little pond. Scientists say they’ve created the building blocks of biology in steaming hot springs. Meanwhile, we visit a NASA lab where scientists simulate deep-sea vent chemistry to produce the type of environment that might spawn life. Which site is best suited for producing biology from chemistry?

Find out how the conditions of the early Earth were different from today, how meteors seeded Earth with organics, and a provocative idea that life arose as an inevitable consequence of matter shape-shifting to dissipate heat. Could physics be the driving force behind life’s emergence?

Guests:

Caleb Scharf – Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, New York
Laurie Barge – Research scientist in astrobiology at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Bruce Damer – Research scientist in biomolecular engineering, University of California,
Jeremy England – Physicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Next Episode

Vaccine, When?

It will be the shot heard ‘round the world, once it comes. But exactly when can we expect a COVID vaccine? We discuss timelines, how it would work, who’s involved, and the role of human challenge trials.

Also, although he doesn’t consider himself brave, we do. Meet a Seattle volunteer enrolled in the first coronavirus vaccine trial. And, while we mount an elaborate defense against a formidable foe, scientists ask a surprising question: is a virus even alive?

Guests:

Nigel Brown – Emeritus Professor of Molecular Microbiology at the University of Edinburgh
Ian Haydon – Public information specialist at the University of Washington, Seattle
Bonnie Maldonado – Professor of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases at the Stanford University School of Medicine
Paul Offit – Head of the Vaccine Education Center, and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

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