Science - 12.12.20205 - Pathogens, pandemics , and strange beliefs
Scott Forbes -
Students were greeted with the famous (infamous?) photograph of “Bigfoot” walking through a forest looking over “his” right shoulder towards the photographer. Our studies of viruses, COVID, science, and pathogens touches on the places where sound science meets unfounded ideas.
Richard Feynman was a scientist, previously introduced in class, who said that if something disagrees with experiment, then it is wrong. Regarding Bigfoot, teams of scientists have tested every possible artifact (hair samples, footprints, droppings, etc) believed to be from a large, humanoid, creature believed - by some - to inhabit the forests of the Pacific northwest. In every case the evidence turned out to be coyote, bear, or some other animal that is well-documented. Bigfoot, like space aliens that have visited Earth, or ghosts, may exist, but there is absolutely NO evidence for it. So, science is our tool to being able to discard beliefs that are at least silly and, at most, harmful.
COVID - 19 virus is a good example of where science ran into false beliefs. From the politics of the CDC placing extreme warning labels on vaccines (current events) to the effectiveness of masks, to the possible origin of the virus - students are in the unique position of learning about infectious diseases in a time when the world was affected by COVID - 19.
Some of the key takeaways from the clip of the 2019 movie “Contagion” that are important for our studies;
- The movie shows human and animal blood being potentially mixed in markets where animals are killed for food. This is, likely, how HIV / AIDS began: with the mixing of chimpanzee blood with human blood when animals were being used for food.
- Fomites are mentioned in the movie; touching surface that have pathogens. We usually touch our faces at least once a minute and this is a way viruses are spread easily.
- Darwin’s Finches and virus survival: In “Contagion” two characters, a father and daughter, share a natural immunity to the virus thanks to genetic variation. Our studies of Darwin, so far, have shown that variation helps a species. Evolution works on a species, not an individual. Having variety in a population helps “tilt the odds” in favor of survival for the entire species.
- Tie-in with our previous lesson / discussion of Europeans introducing diseases to the Americas which decimated Native American populations. European cities were often unsanitary, crowded, and filled with animals in close contact with people. When the tribes in America came into contact with Europeans in the 16th century (onward) - populations were often destroyed by diseases their gene pool had never experienced.
- R-naught - A number that represents how may other people wit get a disease for each person who has the disease. Thanks to vaccines, the R-naught of diseases like SMALLPOX and POLIO was brought down and, in both cases, the diseases have been ELIMINATED THANKS TO VACCINATIONS.
- Current Events: Students are asked to check the website for both the CDC and the World Health Organization. Also, read the current news story regarding a potential warning being placed on COVID vaccines. Important regarding our discussion of the places where good science meets misconceptions.
- Incubation Period: The time between infection and when symptoms appear.
