WEBVTT - How Genetic Infections Made Coronavirus Infectious and Deadly

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<v Speaker 1>It's Tuesday, March thirty one. I'm Oscar Ramires from the

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<v Speaker 1>Daily Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your

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<v Speaker 1>daily coronavirus update. With coronavirus, it's all about the genetic mutations.

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<v Speaker 1>Two critical mutations occurred. The first altered the spikes and

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<v Speaker 1>the virus to allow it to latch on the proteins

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<v Speaker 1>that lined the respiratory tract. The second mutation allowed the

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<v Speaker 1>virus to grow a protein dagger that lets it bind

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<v Speaker 1>tightly to throat and lung cells, making it infectious and deadly.

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<v Speaker 1>Robert Bazell, professor of molecular, cellular and Developmental biology at Yale,

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<v Speaker 1>joins US for coronavirus mutations. Thanks for joining us, Robert,

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<v Speaker 1>my pleasure. I wanted to talk about coronavirus COVID nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>and how it's changed. Um, you know, the genetic mutations

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<v Speaker 1>that have helped turn it into what it is now. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, there was a time, you know, we think

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<v Speaker 1>this might have originated in bats and then traveled through

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<v Speaker 1>another animal possibly then made its way to humans. There

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<v Speaker 1>was a time where this might not have necessarily been

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<v Speaker 1>dangerous to us, but there were mutations that happen over time,

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<v Speaker 1>and here we are now. So Robert Canny tell us

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit about that. Well, it's very common for

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<v Speaker 1>this process, which is called zoonosis, which means that an

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<v Speaker 1>animal virus that's harmless in one animal crosses species, it

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<v Speaker 1>becomes harmful, And of course we care about it that

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<v Speaker 1>when it happens to human beings, it happens among other

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<v Speaker 1>species as well. But seventy of emerging infections in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States and of all infections, are from animals. So

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<v Speaker 1>is A is a serious source of disease in the

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<v Speaker 1>human population and a continuing threat. We were we worried

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<v Speaker 1>about it a lot in the past. We saw it

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<v Speaker 1>with stars, which is another coronavirus, the same family as

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<v Speaker 1>COVID nineteen. But it also happens with influenza, which comes

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<v Speaker 1>from chickens and pigs and birds and other birds. And

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<v Speaker 1>we let's do that one again. Influenza is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the most common ones. But but it circulates constantly through

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<v Speaker 1>the human population, but it also goes into pigs and

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<v Speaker 1>chickens and other birds and that causes So that's one

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<v Speaker 1>that we're we're very familiar with. There's also a constant

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<v Speaker 1>fear that avian food, which is another kind of influenza

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<v Speaker 1>that's in birds will mutate in a way that will

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<v Speaker 1>become much more harmful the humans. And we've been watching

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<v Speaker 1>for that for a long time. Is there a particular

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<v Speaker 1>reason why some of these respiratory diseases like stars and

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<v Speaker 1>all that in COVID nineteen now, is there a particular

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<v Speaker 1>reason why they're in bats? Well, a lot of things

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<v Speaker 1>are in bats. And the reason that they're in bats

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<v Speaker 1>is that's make a wonderful home for a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>creatures because bats are all over the place. If you

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<v Speaker 1>look at bats in in the rainforest, they are on

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<v Speaker 1>the top of the trees, they're on the on the

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<v Speaker 1>floor there, and they're flying all around. So they are

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<v Speaker 1>a fantastic vector for all kinds of viruses. And as

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<v Speaker 1>a result of viruses are very comfortable with them, and

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<v Speaker 1>from an evolutionary perspective, a lot of times they can

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<v Speaker 1>move very happily in basses, get around all the time.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's very important, by the way, to point

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<v Speaker 1>out when we keep talking about bats, and there have

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<v Speaker 1>been articles about this that people hear about kind of

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<v Speaker 1>horrible thing where a virus mutates, uh that's harmless to

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<v Speaker 1>a bat that and becomes a pathogen and human beings

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<v Speaker 1>that we don't go on some kind of campaign to

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<v Speaker 1>go out and kill all the bats in the world.

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<v Speaker 1>The average bat eats about eight thousand mosquitoes a day,

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<v Speaker 1>so if you think about what you're losing when you

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<v Speaker 1>kill a bat, it's pretty significant, and just in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of the threat the human disease that's caused by the

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<v Speaker 1>by mosquitoes and other insects and the bats eat for us.

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<v Speaker 1>In your latest article, you wrote about two critical mutations

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<v Speaker 1>that happened with this coronavirus. Can you talk about that. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>these are traced back and then this will take a

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<v Speaker 1>while to work out, but it's important to understanding that

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<v Speaker 1>you can't conture you can have more surveillance for this

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<v Speaker 1>kind of again into the future. But the best guess

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<v Speaker 1>is that it was a that virus that was not

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<v Speaker 1>causing any harm in the bat, that it somehow underwent

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<v Speaker 1>a mutation either within a bat or within a person

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<v Speaker 1>or within an intermediate host of some kind of animal

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<v Speaker 1>that was sold in a food market in China, and

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<v Speaker 1>it became dangerous to human beings. The specific things that

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<v Speaker 1>seem to be the most important is that it Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you're excusing. The specific thing that it seems to be

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<v Speaker 1>most important is that it latches onto a protein called

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<v Speaker 1>ACE two, a c E T two, which lines the

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<v Speaker 1>r respiratory system, and that causes to get in destroyer

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<v Speaker 1>cells and become more dangerous. And there's a second one

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<v Speaker 1>that involves a protein that's slight is through uh, other

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<v Speaker 1>proteins that we have on our respiratory system. That makes

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<v Speaker 1>the binding much more strong and the disease much more infectious.

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<v Speaker 1>And the thing we need to be be watching out

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<v Speaker 1>for is if there would be any further mutations with

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<v Speaker 1>this coronavirus, with this COVID nineteen, you know, as we

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<v Speaker 1>race to get vaccines ready and other effective treatments, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>if it changes mutates in any way, it could possibly

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<v Speaker 1>change all of that. Yeah, that that's always a concern,

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<v Speaker 1>and it seldom happens. There have been other viruses that

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<v Speaker 1>come into the human population, and usually when they do,

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<v Speaker 1>they reach a pretty stable state. The evolutionary goal of

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<v Speaker 1>any creature encoding a virus is to just make more

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<v Speaker 1>copies of itself. So right now, the COVID nineteen virus

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<v Speaker 1>is making a lot of copies of itself and it's

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<v Speaker 1>not under any evolutionary pressure to change, and we've seen

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<v Speaker 1>that before. I mentioned in the article that j V

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<v Speaker 1>is which has been around for a long time, probably

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<v Speaker 1>since the n and it came from is another zoo

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<v Speaker 1>want to infection. It came from chimpanzees to human beings,

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't changed much. Even though there are mutations in the virus,

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<v Speaker 1>they don't change the biology or it's infectiousness, or it's danger.

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<v Speaker 1>Robert Bazell, Adjunct Professor of Molecular, Cellular, cellular, and Developmental

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<v Speaker 1>Biology at the most complicatedly named department in any university.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you very much for joining us. Robert, my my pleasures.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you all right, Robert Bazell, adjunct Professor of Molecular, Cellular,

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<v Speaker 1>and Developmental Biology at Yale, Thank you very much for

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<v Speaker 1>joining us, My pleasure. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this has

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<v Speaker 1>been your daily coronavirus update. Don't forget that. For today's

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