Pathogen Evolution

A virus that is transmitted from birds to cattle on another continent. Then: the first human was infected with this virus. How did that happen? The virus has evolved. Adapted. To a different host. And the evolution continues. Suddenly, people are no longer infecting animals, but: each other? It sounds like an apocalyptic scenario, but we have all experienced how real this scenario can suddenly become. And a few years later, life is back to normal. Just with one more virus that can make us ill. This can and will happen again and again, but in order for us to be prepared and NOT have an apocalypse, we need to know as much as possible about which viruses are on the move and how they are changing. And this is what Professor Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer is doing at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health in Greifswald. He not only looks at the pathogens, but also at how changes in the environment and nature - including those caused by us - influence how pathogens have developed in the past. Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer heads the ‘Evolution of Pathogens’ working group and uses genetic changes to retrospectively analyse what could have caused this change. This allows valuable conclusions to be drawn about how today's pathogens could develop. I will now be talking to Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer about how predictions can be made from this and what they are.