{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"80,000 Hours Podcast","title":"#70 - Dr Cassidy Nelson on the 12 best ways to stop the next pandemic (and limit nCoV)","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":8793,"description":"nCoV is alarming governments and citizens around the world. It has killed more than 1,000 people, brought the Chinese economy to a standstill, and continues to show up in more and more places. But bad though it is, it's much closer to a warning shot than a worst case scenario. The next emerging infectious disease could easily be more contagious, more fatal, or both.\r\n\r\nDespite improvements in the last few decades, humanity is still not nearly prepared enough to contain new diseases. We identify them too slowly. We can't do enough to reduce their spread. And we lack vaccines or drugs treatments for at least a year, if they ever arrive at all.\r\n\r\n• Links to learn more, summary and full transcript.\r\n\r\nThis is a precarious situation, especially with advances in biotechnology increasing our ability to modify viruses and bacteria as we like.\r\n\r\nIn today's episode, Cassidy Nelson, a medical doctor and research scholar at Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute, explains 12 things her research group think urgently need to happen if we're to keep the risk at acceptable levels. The ideas are:\r\n\r\nScience\r\n1. Roll out genetic sequencing tests that lets you test someone for all known and unknown pathogens in one go.\r\n2. Fund research into faster ‘platform’ methods for going from pathogen to vaccine, perhaps using innovation prizes.\r\n3. Fund R&D into broad-spectrum drugs, especially antivirals, similar to how we have generic antibiotics against multiple types of bacteria.\r\n\r\nResponse\r\n\r\n4. Develop a national plan for responding to a severe pandemic, regardless of the cause. Have a backup plan for when things are so bad the normal processes have stopped working entirely.\r\n5. Rigorously evaluate in what situations travel bans are warranted. (They're more often counterproductive.)\r\n6. Coax countries into more rapidly sharing their medical data, so that during an outbreak the disease can be understood and countermeasures deployed as quickly as possible.\r\n7. Set up genetic...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/VO1STE7hN95RRg9QdLo4soV2VhhbR9PF5ZZlRhDYcwE/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQxNDAyLzE2ODM1/NDQ1NDAtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}