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.