RICH RICH ON THIS CYCLE OF "CYCLE OF HEALTH," FIGHTING FUTURE PANDEMICS.

WE TALK WITH FOUR EXPERTS FROM SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ABOUT WHAT WE'VE LEARNED THROUGH COVID-19 AND APPLY THAT TO PREVENTING FUTURE OUTBREAKS.

AND WE GO UNDER THE MICROSCOPE IN AN S.U.

PHYSICS LAB TO LEARN ABOUT THEIR RESEARCH INTO VIRAL UPTAKE.

WE HOPE YOU'LL JOIN US FOR THIS IMPORTANT DISCUSSION.

COMING UP ON "CYCLE OF HEALTH."

♪ ♪ HELLO AND WELCOME TO "CYCLE OF HEALTH."

I'M Dr. RICH O'NEILL.

TONIGHT'S TOPIC: FIGHTING FUTURE PANDEMICS.

IN SOME WAY SHAPE OR FORM, COVID HAS AFFECTED ALL OF US.

IN FACT, SINCE IT STARTED, THE UNITED STATES HAS SEEN OVER 46 MILLION COVID CASES AND OVER THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLION DEATHS.

A PANDEMIC LIKE THIS IS SOMETHING WE HOPE TO NEVER SEE AGAIN IN OUR LIFETIME.

BUT, OF COURSE, THAT'S NO GUARANTEE.

SO TONIGHT, WE WANT TO EXAMINE THE SCIENCE BEHIND THESE OUTBREAKS AND HOW TO BEST PREVENT ANOTHER PANDEMIC FROM HAPPENING.

JOINING ME TO EXPLORE THIS TOPIC ARE Dr. DAVID LARSEN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, Dr. BRITTANY KMUSH, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH AT S.U.

Dr. ALLISON PATTESON, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AT S.U., AND Dr. JEN SCHWARZ, PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AT S.U.

THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE.

BEFORE WE DIVE INTO THE RESEARCH, JEN AND ALLISON, TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU CAME TO STUDY, WHAT YOU STUDY?

>> THANKS, RICH.

I HAVE BEEN STUDYING BIOPHYSICS AND BIOMECHANICS AND THAT'S BECAUSE PHYSICS STUDIES MATERIALS AND FORCES AND WE ARE INTERESTED IN HOW CELLS CHANGE SHAPES AND MAKE STRUCTURES SO THEY CAN DO THE THINGS THAT THEY NEED TO DO.

AND IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT WE STUDY THIS PROTEIN, VIMENTIN WHICH HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN THE SARS CROAFT VIRUS ENTERING CELLS, SO THE SARS-COV-2 VIRUS ENTERING THE CELLS AND SO WE HAVE BEEN STUDYING IF WE CAN PREVENT IT.

>> SO SO THE COVID COMING ALONG GAVE A BOOST TO THIS RESEARCH INTO THIS PARTICULAR AREA.

>> YES, SIR, THAT'S RIGHT.

TYPICALLY WE STUDY MECHANICS AND MECHANICS, BUT WE'VE PIVOTED A BIT AND STARTED STUDYING VIRUSES.

>> AND JEN, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD TO THAT?

>> YEAH, SO I WOULD SAY I'M A COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICIST.

I THINK ABOUT IDEA THEORETICAL IDEAS IN TERMS OF HOW, IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE 3-RBGS, HOW THE VIRUS ENTERS THE CELL.

MY BACKGROUND IS A LITTLE BROAD IN THE SENSE I FIRST STARTED THINKING ABOUT PHASE TRANSITIONS SAY FROM ICE TO WATER.

AND THEN MOVED INTO STUDYING BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS TRYING TO UNCOVER GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, WHICH ARE COMPLICATED IN THE SENSE THAT THEY HAVE A LOT OF MOVING PARTS.

SO IF WE CAN IDENTIFY SOME UNDERLYING GENERAL PRINCIPLES FROM A PHYSICIST'S PERSPECTIVE IN TERMS OF FORCES AND WHAT NOT, WHAT IS DRIVING THOSE SYSTEMS, THEN WE CAN MAKE PREDICTIONS AS TO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN AND THIS PARTICULAR CASE, THIS SYSTEM, THE VIRUS AND THE CELL AND HOW THEY INTERACT.

AND SO IF WE CAN UNDERSTAND SOME GENERAL UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES HOW THEY INTERACT, WE CAN MAKE PREDICTIONS WHICH THEN EXPERIMENTALISTS CAN TEST.

>> OUR CREW RECENTLY VISITED PROFESSOR PATTESON'S LAB TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SOME OF THE RESEARCH GOING ON THERE.

LET'S TAKE A LOOK.

>> ALL RIGHT.

SO HERE WE HAVE HEC 293 T. CELLS SO THEY'RE EASILY INFECTIBLE.

THIS IS ON THE RIGHT FIELD.

THEY'RE VERY CROWDED.

LET'S SEE HOW MANY OF THESE GOT INFECTED.

WE CAN TELL BY TURNING ON THE GREEN FLOOR RES ENT PROTEIN HITTING THEM WITH THE GREEN LASER.

THE CELLS THAT GOT INFECTED BY THE PSEUDO VIRUS ARE GREEN AND YOU CAN ACTUALLY COUNT HOW MANY GOT INFECTED.

I'M ALLISON PATTESON, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY.

SO THE MAJOR ROUTE OF ENTRY FOR SARS-COV-2 IS TO THE AIR THAT WE BREATHE AND THAT VIRUS WILL END UP IN OUR RESPIRATORY TRACT WHERE IT CAN START TO INFECT OUR CELLS.

ONCE IT'S INSIDE CELLS, IT STARTS TO REPLICATE AND ONCE THERE IS MORE AND MORE RELEASE, IT CAN MAKE IT TO THE BLOODSTREAM AND TRAVEL TO OTHER TISSUES IN THE BODY.

>> ONE WAY THE VIRUS GETS IN BY WRAPPING AROUND.

>> THERE ARE SEVERAL ASPECTS TO THIS RESEARCH.

ONE IS PROFESSOR PATTESON IS HEADING THE EXPERIMENTAL ASPECTS, WHERE YOU CONDUCT CERTAIN TESTS OF CERTAIN HYPOTHESIS.

IN TERMS OF MY CONTRIBUTION AND THE CONTRIBUTION OF GRADUATE STUDENT GUPTA WHO YOU MIGHT MEET LATER ON, WE ARE MODELERS.

WE WILL DRAW-- IF YOU WILL, CARTOONS, POSSIBLE VARIOUS SCENARIOS OF WHAT CAN HAPPEN.

>> WE ARE LOOKING ON THE SCREEN AND YOU HAVE CELL MEMBRANE WE ARE DOING A PATCH, THE BLUE.

YOU CAN SEE THE PRIMARY NETWORK.

IT'S A BLUE PATCH AND ON TOP OF IT YOU ALL ALL THESE STRANDS OF ENVIRONMENTIN THAT LOOKS IMREEN IN COLOR.

AND YOU CAN SEE THEY'RE ATTACHING TO SPIKES AT THE BOTTOM.

AND ONCE THEY START-- THEY START PULLING THE VIRUS IN.

>> VIMENTIN IS PART OF THE SKELETON AND IT GIVES THE CELL STRENGTH.

THAT'S HOW WE STUDY THE ROLE IN MOTILITY BECAUSE IT IS IMPLICATED IN DISEASES SUCH AS CANCER.

IT HAS MANY FUNCTIONS.

BUT ONE WE ARE INTERESTED IN IS THE APPEARANCE OF VIMENTIN ON THE OUTSIDE SURFACE OF THE CELL.

NORMALLY IT'S INSIDE THE CELL.

BUT WHEN IT'S OUTSIDE THE CELL, IT CAN ACT AS AN ATTACHMENT FACTOR FOR DIFFERENT PATHOGENS AND WE THINK THE SPIKE PROTEINS FOR SARS 2 MAY BIND TO THOSE EXTRA CELLULAR VIMENTIN ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE CELL MEDICAL BRAIN LIKE VELCRO AND ONCE THE VIRUS GETS STUCK TO A CELL MEMBRANE, THE VIRUS IS MORE LIKELY TO ENTER THE CELL BECAUSE THE CELL MEMBRANE CAN EASILY WRAP AROUND IT.

>> SO RESEARCH IS STILL GOING ON BUT OUR FIRST STEPS HAVE SHOWN THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY BLOCK UPTAKE OF THESE SARS SARS-COV-2 PSEUDO VIRUSES BY ADDING VIMENTIN ANTIBODY.

>> A VIMENTIN ANTIBODY WOULD IN PRINCIPLE ATTACH TO THE EXTRA CELLULAR VIMENTIN TO ATTACK THE VIRUS.

SO IF THE ANTIBODY IS ATTACH TO THE OUTSIDE, IT CAN NO LONGSER BIND TO THE VIRUS.

IT'S BUSY USING SOMETHING ELSE.

>> USING ANTIVIMENTIN ANTIBODIES ALONE WILL NOT PREVENT UPTAKEN TIRELY BUT WE CAN REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF VIRUS THAT GETS IN.

THERE ARE OTHER WAYS THE VIRUS CAN GET INTO THE CELL.

SO PRESUMABLY IT WOULD SLOW IT DOWN.

WOULD NOT NECESSARILY GO TO FLAT 0 BECAUSE THERE ARE OTHER POSSIBLE WAYS FOR THE VIRUS TO ENTER THE CELL.

>> WE ENVISION THAT THERE ARE TWO WAYS THAT ANTI-VIMENTIN ANTIBODIES COULD BE ADMINISTERED TO PATIENTS.

EFFICIENT FIRST IS A NASAL SPRAY.

IF YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO BE EXPOSED OR RECENTLY EXPOSED AND USE THIS NASAL SPRAY, YOU CAN BLOCK SUBSEQUENT UPTAKE.

ANOTHER WAY IS POTENTIALLY, YOU ALREADY HAVE COVID.

YOU ARE NOT FEELING SO GREAT.

TAKE IT INTRAVEINOUSLY INTO THE BLOOD AND IT WOULD BLOCK UPTAKE INTO MORE TISSUES.

WE ARE LEARNING IN THE PANDEMIC THERE ARE MULTIPLE STRATEGIES ONE HAS TO HAVE TO MITIGATE THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS.

MASK WEARING, VACCINES, AND THEN IN PRIP, THE SORTS OF ANTIBODIES.

THERE ARE VARIOUS POSSIBLE MEANS, TO COMBAT THE VIRUS AND BECAUSE THE VIRUS IS CLEVER, BIOLOGY IS CLEVER, WE DO NEED THE DIFFERENT MEANS TO BE ABLE TO COMBAT IT.

>> SO THIS STUDY OR WHAT I'M DOING, THIS IS LIKE TOOLS FROM COMPETITION MATH EXPERIMENTS, BIOLOGY.

WE ARE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND BIOLOGICAL PHENOMENON LIKE IN CASE WHY THE VIRUS UPTAKE.

>> UNDERSTANDING THE INTERACTION OF THE SARS-COV-2 AND DEVELOPING ANTI-VIMENTIN DRUGS COULD HELP OTHER DISEASES.

SAY SARS 3 COMES ALONG IN LESS THAN 100 YEARS OR SO AND IF WE ARE READY THEN TO UNDERSTAND, OKAY, HOW DOES VIMENTIN OR OTHER CO-RECEPTORS AFFECT VIRAL UPSTAGE, WE CAN BE BETTER BETTER EQUIPPED TO FIGHT FUTURE VIRUSES.

>> ALLISON, WHAT IS YOUR GOAL WITH THIS RESEARCH?

>> I HAVE TWO KIND OF APPROACHES TO WHAT WE MIGHT DO HERE.

ONE IS I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE AND JUST WHAT ARE THE STRATEGIES THAT A VIRUS WOULD USE TO GET INSIDE THE CELL.

AND ON THE OTHER HAND, WHAT IS THE APPLICATION THAT WE CAN TAKE AWAY AND CAN WE PRODUCE A PRODUCT THAT WILL BE USEFUL TO OTHERS?

AND SO ULTIMATELY, WE FOUND A WAY THAT THE VIRUS CAN ENVIED THE CELL BY STICKING TO THE PROTEINS VIMENTIN AND IF WE CAN BLOCK IT, WE CAN REDUCE UPTAKE NOT JUST FOR SARS-COV-2 BUT FOR OTHER VIRUS THAT USE THE SAME MECHANISM TO GET IN AND SO WE ARE JUST AT THE BEGINNING STEPS OF DEVELOPING THE DRUG.

I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT, INTERESTED IN THE NEXT STEPTS.

BUT I WILL SAY THAT ACTUALLY, THERE ARE OTHER ANTIVIRAL DRUGS THAT ARE JUST BEING DEVELOPED.

SO MERCK HAS A DRUG THAT IS MONOPIIRAVIR THAT BLOCKS ENVIRONMENTAL REPLICATION SO THAT COULD BE OUT IN A PILL FORM IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS.

>> WOW.

DOCTOR DAVID LARSEN.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE WORK YOU HAVE BEEN DOING SOME.

>> THE FIRST WORK I HAVE BEEN DOING WITH COVID-19 WAS ADVOCATING FOR MASK USE GOING BACK TO FEBRUARY AND MARCH OF 2020.

>> RIGHT WHEN IT STARTS.

>> RIGHT WHEN IT STARTED.

WHAT PROMPTED THIS IS OBSERVING CHINA AND OBSERVING SOUTH KOREA, JAPAN AND THE WAY THEY HANDLED THE PANDEMIC.

THIS IS THEIR THIRD CORONAVIRUS IN 20 YEARS.

SO YOU HAD SARS 1 IN 2003 AND MRS IN 2008 AND SARS-COV-2 IN 21 SO WHAT STRATEGIES DID THEY USE TO COMBAT THE VIRUS THAT WE SHOULD ADOPT AS AMERICANS EARLIER AND YOU KNOW,OUR WORK WAS NOT ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION.

I WORKED ON AN ESSAY AND REVIEW ARTICLE WITH Dr. KMUSH AND IT WAS REJECTED BECAUSE THE SCIENTIFIC THINKING OR THE AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC THINKING AT THE TIME WAS THAT MASKS WOULDN'T WORK.

THEY WOULDN'T BE EFFECTIVE.

AND A FEW MONTHS AFTER THAT, THE CDC REVERSED ITS RECOMMENDATION AND WE NOW KNOW THAT MASKS ARE ONE OF THE BEST TOOLS WE HAVE.

THEY'RE EASY TO WEAR.

THEY'RE NOT COMFORTABLE.

NOBODY LIKES WEARING THEM.

BUT... >> I LIKE YOURS.

THAT'S A PARTICULARLY COOL ONE.

>> I GOT IT FOR MY DAUGHTER BUT IT KEPT SLIDING OFF HER HAIR.

YOU NEED A SHORT VELCRO HEAD.

>> BUT THEY REALLY DO THE JOB.

>> THEY REALLY DO THE JOB.

THEY ALLOW US TO LIVE MORAL TYPICALLY, YOU KNOW, PRE-COVID, ALLOWS US TO GO TO SCHOOL, TO GET TOGETHER.

THEY PROMOTE OUR LIBERTIES AND IT'S SUCH A LOW-COST HIGHLY EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION THAT IT'S REALLY THE PRIMARY INTERVENTION FOR RESPIRATORY VIRUSES LIKE COVID-19.

>> AND THE COST BENEFIT.

THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS YOU GUYS IN PUBLIC HEALTH TRY TO BALANCE, RIGHT?

>> WHENEVER WE HAVE A NEW PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTION, WE THINK ABOUT WHAT IS THE COST?

NOT ONLY MON TEARILY BUT BEHAVIORALLY.

YOU THINK ABOUT ISOLATION AND QUARANTINE.

THOSE COMES WITH VERY HIGH COSTS AS YOU CONTINY PEOPLE TO THEIR HOUSES.

SO THE COST OF A MASK IS A BIT OF DISCOMFORT, MAYBE A BIT OF EMBARRASSMENT IF YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WEARING ONE AND WHAT IS THE BENEFIT TO IT?

THE BENEFIT HAS BEEN PROVEN RESOUNDINGLY POSITIVE AND IT HAS BEEN HIGHLY EFFECTIVE.

>> I KNOW YOU AND BRITTANY HAVE BEEN DOING WORK ALSO ON SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS.

YOU WANT TO WEIGH IN THERE Dr. KMUSH FOR US?

>> SURE.

YEAH, SO ANOTHER MAJOR PIECE OF WORK THAT Dr. LARSEN AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON IS SURVEILLANCE AND SPECIFICALLY WHAT WE STARTED DOING WITH SARS WAS WASTE WATER SURVEILLANCE.

AND SO THIS IS NOT A NEW TECHNOLOGY.

WE HAVE BEEN USING WASTE WATER SURVEILLANCE, PARTICULARLY TO MONITOR POLIO AND POLIO ERADICATION FOR DECADES.

AND BUT BEFORE SARS, PEOPLE WERE REALLY FOCUSING ON USING WASTE WATER SURVEILLANCE TO MONITOR FECAL ORAL PATHOGENS AND NOT REALLY FOCUSING ON A WIDE VARIETY OF OTHER PATH PATTED GENERALS AND SINCE THIS PANDEMIC HAS STARTED, EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A RESPIRATORY PATHOGEN, WE CAN FIND IT IN THE WASTE WATER AND WE HAVE BEEN USING WASTE WATER SURVEILLANCE TO MONITOR TREND IN SARS TRANSMISSION AT VARIOUS LEVELS THROUGHOUT NEW YORK STATE.

>> WHEN I FIRST HEARD ABOUT THIS, I WAS ASTOUNDED THAT YOU COULD FIND A RELATIVELY FEW PEOPLE IN SEWAGE.

HOW DOES THAT WORK?

IT'S PRETTY AMAZING TO ME!

>> IT'S LIKE FINDING A NEEDLE IN A HAY STACK.

WE JUST HAVE A REALLY GOOD MAGNET SO WE CAN ACTUALLY DETECT ABOUT ONE CASE PER 10,000 POPULATION VERY RELIABLY.

99% OF THE TIME WE CAN DETECT THAT.

SO I LOVE THIS TECHNOLOGY BECAUSE IT CAN HELP US TO CONFIRM THE ABSENCE OF TRANSMISSION.

AND SO IF BEE HAVE A COMMUNITY THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANY CORONAVIRUS CASES, WE ARE NOT REALLY CERTAIN WHETHER THAT'S BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO CARE OR MAYBE THEY'RE ALL VACCINATED AND SO THEY'RE NOT GETTING SICK TO SEEK TREATMENT.

BUT WHEN YOU LOOK IN THE WASTE WATER, YOU GET AN UNBIASED MEASURE OF TRANSMISSION AND WE ACTUALLY CAN BUILD CONFIDENCE THAT HEY, CORONAVIRUS IS NOT AROUND.

AND THAT'S WHERE I HOPE WE GET.

WE ARE NOT THERE RIGHT NOW BUT I HOPE WE GET THERE OVER THE NEXT YEAR OR SO.

>> VERY BRIEFLY, IT'S PROBABLY GOING TO BE OVER MY HEAD, BUT WHAT IS THE TECHNOLOGY?

HOW DO YOU DO IT?

>> SO IT'S THE SAME IDEA AS A LOT OF THE DIAGNOSTIC TESTS THAT YOU GE.

SO INSTEAD OF TAKING A NASAL SWAB AND TESTING AN INDIVIDUAL PERSON USING THE PCR CHAIN REACTION, WE CAN ACTUALLY TAKE A SAMPLE OF WASTE WATER AND RUN A VERY SIMILAR TEST USING THE PCR TECHNOLOGY AND SEE IF THERE IS THE GENETIC MATERIAL FROM THE CORONAVIRUS IN THE WASTE WATER.

>> THAT REALLY IS AMAZING.

THAT THAT LOW LEVEL YOU CAN DETECT.

IT'S JUST ASTONISHING.

LET'S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT VACCINES.

THERE IS A LOT OF BAD INFORMATION OUT THERE ABOUT VACCINES.

>> YEAH, SO THE VACCINE MISINFORMATION, THAT'S BEEN GOING ON SINCE SMALL POX IN THE 1700.

THERE ARE GREAT POLITICAL CARTOONS OF PEOPLE TURNING INTO COWS IN THE-- >> PEOPLE TURNING INTO COWS.

>> BECAUSE THEY USED A COW POX BOVINE SMALL POX VIRUS.

>> AND THAT WAS THE PARANOID FACTCY.

>> THAT IF WE GIVE THIS COW POX TO PEOPLE, LIT TURN YOU INTO A COW.

AND THAT IS WRITTEN UP IN THE POLITICAL CARTOONS.

IT'S FASCINATING.

AND SO THIS IDEA OF THIS HESITANCY AND THE FEAR AROUND VACCINES, THAT'S BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME.

>> CAN VACCINES ADJUST TO VAIR-- VARIATIONS LIKE WITH COVID AND DELTA?

>> THAT DEPENDS ON THE TYPE OF VACCINES.

WITH THE NEWER CONTROVERSY VOONS, THE MRNA VACCINE, THE TECHNOLOGY IS THERE TO BE ABLE TO MODIFY THE RNA TO MARCH WHATEVER NEW STRAIN OR VARIANT COMES ALONG VERY QUICKLY SO WITHIN A COUPLE OF MONTHS, OR A YEAR, YOU COULD MAKE A VACCINE THAT IS SPECIFIC TO A DIFFERENT TYPE OF CORONAVIRUS.

>> I KNOW RNA FROM MY BIOLOGY CLASS IN HIGH SCHOOL.

WHAT IS THE M STAND FOR?

>> THE M STAND FOR MESSENGER SO IT'S A MESSENGER RNA AND OUR BODY MAKES MESSENGER RNA ALL THE TIME.

AS WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE BONES OF THE CELL, MRNA IS ANOTHER VERY COMMON COMPONENT IN OUR CELLS AND IT'S HOW OUR BODY TURNS OUR GENETIC CODE INTO PROTEINS AND SO WE ARE GIVING THE BODY THE MESSAGE ON HOW TO MAKE THE CORONAVIRUS PROTEIN SO OUR BODY CAN RESPOND IT TO AND ATTACK THE VIRUS.

>> WHAT IS THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT SAFETY AND VACCINES?

>> THE MEARG RNA PLATFORM THAT HAS BEEN IN DEVELOPMENT FOR 40 YEARS.

STARTED IN THE 80s TO BE DEVELOPED.

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE CURRENT MESSENGER RNA VACCINES WE HAVE PFIZER AND MODERNA, THOSE TWO VACCINES ARE BUILT ON THIS BLM THAT HAS BEEN TESTED FOR SAFETY FOR 40 YEARS.

NOW THE CDC WANTED TO RUSH OUT THESE VACCINES-- >> LET ME JUST STOP THERE FOR A SECOND.

SO PEOPLE WHO ARE SAYING THERE HAS BEEN A BIG RUSH OF DEVELOPMENT AND THEY'RE CONCERNED ABOUT THAT, THAT'S ACTUALLY THEY'RE MISSING THE WHOLE FIRST 39 YEARS OF WORK.

>> EXACTLY.

LIKE IF YOU WATCH THE OLYMPICS AND YOU ARE LIKE MAN, THIS ATHLETE IS AMAZING AND TOTALLY DISCOUNT THE YEARS AND YEARS OF PRACTICE AND EARLY MORNINGS AND LONG TRAINING SESSIONS.

>> IT'S LIKE MAYBE THE GUY RAN DOWN THE MOUNTAIN THE FIRST DAY TWO DAYS BEFORE... >> LIKE SHOWING UP AND RUBBING A MARATHON.

>> SO THOSE VACCINE THAT TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESS HAVE BEEN IN DEVELOPMENT FOR 40 YEARS.

>> 1987, I THINK THERE WAS SOME RECOVERY BY MALONE AND COMPANY WHERE THEY HAVE A PUBLICATION IN A SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL WHERE THEY PUT MRNA INTO SOME SOUP OF CELLS AND THOSE CELLS ACTUALLY STARTED TO REPLICATE TO MAKE THE MRNA AND THEN THERE WERE ISSUES THOUGH DOWN THE LINE WHERE IF YOU DO INTRODUCE MESSENGER RNA INTO THE BODY JUST AS YOU SORT OF WOULD THINK, ON THE BODY ACTUALLY WILL RESPOND, THIS IS A FOREIGN SUBSTANCE AND THEN, YOU KNOW, ANNIHILATE IT SO THE TRICK WAS IN 2005, KATERINA AND DREW, WHO DIDN'T WIN THE NOBEL PRIZE THIS YEAR BUT MAYBE NEXT YEAR, AND THEY DID WIN ANOTHER AWARD.

THEY ACTUALLY CAME UP WITH THE WAY TO SLIGHTLY MODIFY THE MESSENGER RNA BIO CHEMICALLY SO WHEN THE MRNA SLIGHTLY MODIFIED FORM ENTERS YOUR BODY, YOUR BODY DOES NOT REACT TO ANNIHILATE IT.

IT ALLOWS THE BODY NOW TO ALL RIGHT, THERE IS THIS, I'M GOING TO BUILD A SPIKE PROTEIN AND MY OWN IMMUNE SYSTEM CAN LEARN TO FIGHT AGAINST IT.

>> WE JUST HAVE ABOUT TWO MINUTES.

I'M HEARING MASKS ARE REALLY IMPORTANT, VACCINES ARE REALLY IMPORTANT.

SURVEILLANCE OF WASTE WATER IS PROBABLY GOING TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE GOING FORWARD.

LAST WORD.

WHAT WOULD BE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SAY?

>> WELL, I THINK IN TERMS OF PHYSICS PERSPECTIVE, GOING BACK TO THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES UPON WHICH IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, HOW A VICE ENTERS THE CELL,-- VIRUS ENTERS THE CELLS LOCKING FOR CO-RECEPTORS SUCH AS VIMENTIN AND OTHER CELLS OUT THERE, SO IT'S NOT JUST THE VIRUS AND THE CELL.

THERE ARE EXTRA CELLULAR FACTORS.

VIMENTIN CAN BE INSIDE THE CELL AND OUTSIDE THE CELL.

TRYING TO IDENTIFY OTHER FACTORS AND TO IDENTIFY SORT OF WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT A PERSON'S MICROENVIRONMENT AROUND THE CELLS TO SORT OF SAY THIS PERSON IS MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO YES, ONCE THE VIRUS IS IN THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM, THIS PERSON IS MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO GETTING MORE SEVERE DISEASE AS A RESULT.

SO WHAT ARE THOSE EXTRA CELLULAR FACTORS THAT COULD CONTRIBUTE?

SO TRYING TO IDENTIFY THOSE NOW EVEN WITH SARS 2, SO THAT IF THERE IS A SARS 3, WHICH IS SOME , YOU KNOW, SOMEWHAT 80% IN TERMS OF GENETIC CODE SIMILAR WHICH IS ACTUALLY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN SARS AND SARS 2, IF WE CAN IDENTIFY THOSE AHEAD OF TIME, AND THEN DEVELOP SORT OF WAYS TO DETERMINE THESE PEOPLE ARE MORE APT TO GET IT SEVERELY.

>> PERSONALIZED MEDICINE.

>> PERSONALIZED MEDICINE THAT YOU CAN MEASURE EACH PERSON'S MICROENVIRONMENT AND WHAT ARE THE EXTRA CELLULAR FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE UPTAKE.

>> ANYTHING ELSE?

DAVE?

>> I WOULD ADD THAT I WOULD REIT RA IT THIS IS THE THIRD CORONAVIRUS IN 20 YEARS.

WE HAD THE H.I.V.

PANDEMIC IN THE 1990S.

THE H1N1 IN 2008 AND NOW 2019.

WE NEED TO INVEST IN OUR PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEMS TO PROTECT US FOR THE NEXT PANDEMIC AND WHEN MIGHT THE NEXT PANDEMIC BE?

IT WILL BE IN OUR LIFETIME.

WE CAN CONFIDENTLY SAY THAT WE WILL BE ALIVE DURING THE NEXT PANDEMIC.

HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE MORE SIMILAR TO H1N1 THAT DIDN'T CAUSE AS MUCH SUFFERING AND DISEASE AS COVID-19 BUT WE NEED TO BE PREPARED.

>> AS Dr. LARSEN MENTIONED WE NEED TO BE PREPARED.

WE NEED TO HAVE THE PUBLIC HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE BEFORE THE NEXT PANDEMIC HAPPENS BECAUSE AS YOU MENTIONED, IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN AND WE JUST NEED TO HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE SYSTEMS READY TO GO SO THAT WE CAN RESPOND QUICKLY.

>> THAT'S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE.

BUT I WANT TO THANK OUR PANELISTS VERY MUCH FOR JOINING US AGAIN.

Dr. DAVID LARSEN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH AT S.U., Dr. BRITTANY KMUSH, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH AT S.U., Dr. ALLISON PATTESON, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AT S.U., AND Dr. JEN SCHWARZ, PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AT S.U.

BE SURE TO VISIT WCNY.ORG/"CYCLE OF HEALTH" FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS AND OTHER EPISODES.

FOR "CYCLE OF HEALTH," I'M RICH O'NEILL.

THANKS FOR CHECKING IN.

♪ ♪ >> ON THE NEXT "CYCLE OF HEALTH..." UNDERSTANDING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.

WE SIT DOWN WITH THREE EXPERTS TO DISCUSS THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE DISEASE.

THE LATEST IN RESEARCH, MEMORY CARE SERVICES AVAILABLE IN OUR REGION AND IF WE CAN REDUCE THE RISK.

WE ALSO VISIT A LOCAL RESEARCH CENTER WHERE A NEW GLOBAL CLINICAL TRIAL IS TAKING PLACE.

WE HOPE YOU'LL JOIN US FOR THIS IMPORTANT DISCUSSION ALL ON THE NEXT "CYCLE OF HEALTH."