Elaine Dewar - On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years - An Investigation

ACE2: Short for angiotension-converting enzyme 2, a particular type of receptor found on the surface of many types of cells in humans and in other mammals such as bats or mink or cats.

BSL-2, 3, 4 laboratories: Pathogens are studied in laboratories with different levels of containment related to the differing degrees of danger they represent to humans and animals.

BSL-2laboratory: Work is done in a contained cabinet that sucks air away from the researcher to permit the safe study of Risk Group 2 pathogens. These cause illness but dont present a serious threat to humans or animals because vaccines and treatment methods are available.

BSL-3 laboratory: Work is done in a clean room separated from the environment by airlock. Researchers may shower in and out and wear protective suits that keep them safe from Risk Group 3 pathogens. These cause serious illness, but treatments are available so they dont pose a major public health threat.

BSL-4 laboratory: Work is done in a clean room behind an airlock. The whole system is separated entirely from the environment. Air is filtered, and all waste, including water, is sterilized before release. Researchers must wear specially designed suits with their own air supply while studying Risk Group 4 pathogens. These cause a high rate of mortality and no effective vaccines or treatments are available, which presents a pandemic risk if the pathogens are released. There are at least 42 known BSL-4s in the world, most in the United States.

chimera: A new virus made by recombining sequence information from two different viral strains.

COVID-19: The disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2.

dual use: A technology, pathogen, or toxin that may have a peaceful function, such as treating cancer, but which can also be repurposed as a weapon of terror or war.

first author: On scientific papers, the first author is the person who has done most of the work that results in the publication, often done under the supervision of a more senior scientist.

furin: An enzyme on the outside of certain cells that interacts with the receptor binding domain of a virus by cutting between specific amino acids, helping to activate it and aid the viruss entry into that host cell.

gain-of-function: An experiment that makes a virus more infectious, or more lethal, and/or gives it the capacity to infect new hosts.

genome: A sequence of genetic instructions written in ribonucleic acid or deoxyribonucleic acid, which guides the creation, behaviour, and replication of a virus or a living organism.

last author: Usually the most senior person in a laboratory or among a group of scientists working together who has supervised the research published in a scientific paper.

passaging: A method of speeding up the adaptation of a virus to a new host. This does not involve direct manipulation of the genome but takes advantage of the viruss natural tendency to mutate as it replicates.

receptor binding domain: The protein of a virus that binds to a receptor on a host cell.

receptor binding motif: The portion of the receptor binding domain that merges with the receptor of the host cell, permitting the viruss genetic information to enter the cell and the virus to be replicated.

rescue: The term of art for synthesizing a virus from its genome sequence.

SARS-CoV-2: The name given to the virus that causes COVID-19 by an international consortium of taxonomists.

synthetic biology: The creation of a virus or bacterium from its genome sequence. Small segments of the genome are manufactured then inserted into a bacteria and/or yeast, whose cellular organelles put the sequences together in the right order, eventually resulting in the reproduction of a functional virus or organism.

virion: A new virus made by an infected host cell.

virology: The study of viruses.