'The Goal Is Not Your Damn Career' (In Defense of Virology - Episode 10)

About this episode

The episode discusses the responsibilities of scientists in virology and critiques a recent paper on the origins of viral pandemics.

In the tenth episode of In Defense of Virology , Bryce Nickels and Simon Wain-Hobson discuss Simon’s recent presentation to researchers and administrators at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on dangerous gain-of-function research, as well as a recent Cell paper on the origins of viral pandemics that Simon critiqued in his essay, “ Natural COVID crowd miss again .” The conversation begins with Simon discussing the central themes of his NIAID presentation. He argues that scientists must take primary responsibility for identifying and disclosing potential risks associated with their work and calls for a cultural shift within science grounded in the principle of “do no harm.” The discussion then turns to a recent Cell paper ( Havens et al ., Dynamics of natural selection preceding human viral epidemics and pandemics ), which has been cited as evidence supporting a natural origin of SARS-CoV-2. Simon offers a detailed critique of the paper’s assumptions, methodology, and conclusions, contending that it attempts to answer questions that its methods cannot reliably resolve. Simon also discusses viral adaptation, tissue-culture evolution, the challenges…

People in this episode

Host: Bryce Nickels

Guest: Simon Wain-Hobson

Topics covered

• virology
• gain-of-function research
• COVID-19 origins
• scientific responsibility
• viral adaptation

Keywords

• virology
• gain-of-function
• COVID-19
• scientific responsibility
• viral pandemics
• research critique

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Books & works: Natural COVID crowd miss again, Dynamics of natural selection preceding human viral epidemics and pandemics

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