Smallpox to Covid-19: the history of diseases with Dr. Michael Oldstone

Today, Dr. Michael Oldstone joins us to discuss the history of diseases. We talk about diseases, viruses and their role in our history. <br/><br/>Left: A yellow-fever epidemic when building the Panama Canal<br/><br/>Right: Children would be regularly paralyzed before the polio vaccine<br/><br/>Shownotes<br/><br/>00:00: Introductions<br/><br/>02:36: What is a virus?<br/><br/>03:45: DNA viruses vs RNA Viruses <br/><br/>07:30 Understanding virulence and persistance in viruses<br/><br/>08:45 How do viruses evolve?<br/><br/>10:00 Smallpox <br/><br/>&#8220;In the 20th century, smallpox has killed more people than all the wars of the 20th century combined&#8221;<br/><br/>10:30 Ancient inoculations against the smallpox<br/><br/>12:00 Attenuated viruses: The Slow Road to the Vaccine <br/><br/>14:14 Why haven&#8217;t other viruses been eliminated like the smallpox? <br/><br/>16:00 Smallpox in the new world<br/><br/>18:00 The slave trade and yellow fever in the new world<br/><br/>20:00 Yellow fever during the Haitian Revolution<br/><br/>21:00 Yellow fever during the continental congress<br/><br/>22:00 How businesses refused to lockdown during yellow fever in Memphis<br/><br/>25:00 Doctors who self-experimented to find the inoculation against the yellow fever<br/><br/>Viruses cause more casualties than guns during war<br/><br/>31:00 SARS <br/><br/>35:00 Covid-19 vs SARS: How Covid-19 spread fast?<br/><br/>39:00 How would a functioning public health system deal with Covid-19?<br/><br/>42:00 How to develop a vaccine? <br/><br/>48:00 Accurate information about viruses<br/><br/>About Dr. Michael Oldstone<br/><br/>Viruses lie at the heart of some of humanity&#8217;s most pernicious and devastating diseases, such as AIDS, hepatitis, and influenza. Michael Oldstone, a professor of immunology and microbiology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, has devoted his career to a molecular understanding of how viruses infect cells, evade and manipulate the immune system, and cause disease. <br/><