Skip to content
Covid-19 defeats US Marines episode artwork

Nov 12, 2020 33 min

Covid-19 defeats US Marines

from Science In Action Hosted by BBC World Service

The WHO is working with China to try and pinpoint the source of SARS- COV-2. Sian Griffiths, Emeritus Professor of Public Health at the Chinese University of Hong Kong says there are lessons we can learn from the investigation she led into the original SARS outbreak back in 2003. That inquiry revealed how SARS had spread from bats to humans via civet cats. A Covid-19 vaccine claims to be 90% effective. It uses genetic material, messenger RNA. Daniel Anderson of Harvard MIT Health Science tells us about the huge potential of mRNA to provide treatments for many medical conditions. However, rolling out such a vaccine globally faces a huge range of economic and practical obstacles as ethicist Nicole Hassoun of Binghamton University explains. And a unique experiment shows despite a vast range of precautions including being isolated US Marines have contracted Covid -19. Stuart Sealfon, Professor of Neurology at Mount Sinai Hospitals says this study shows we need testing to be integrated more thoroughly into everyday life and that many of the precautions we currently use may not be enough to prevent transmission. (Image: Credit: Getty Images) Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Julian Siddle

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Covid-19 defeats US Marines

0:00 33:15

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of Science In Action?

This episode is 33 minutes long.

When was this Science In Action episode published?

This episode was published on November 12, 2020.

Can I download this Science In Action episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.