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Pathogens
The weird and wonderful interactions between microorganisms and people
The weird and wonderful interactions between microorganisms and people
WEEK ONE
WEEK ONE
What are Pathogens?
What are Pathogens?
pathogen
pathogen
path-o-gen
/paTH e jen/
noun. used in medicine and biology; plural: pathogens
A pathogen is a tiny living organism, such as a bacterium or virus, that makes people sick. Tiny living organisms are also known as microorganisms, and most of them are not harmful.
Etymology (word origin): Pathos is the Greek word for "suffering" and genesis is Latin for "origin or creation." [The Latin word genesis is derived from the Greek word gignesthai meaning "to be born."] So a pathogen is something that creates suffering. The word pathogen was first used in the late 1800s.
Words sharing the root pathos: pathology, pathetic, pathological, etc.
Other key words for this unit: bacteria, bacterium, virus, microorganisms, microbe, microbial, beneficial, harmful, influenza, pandemic
Arc protein in brain neurons. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/brain-cells-can-share-information-using-a-gene-that-came-from-viruses/550403/
What are Pathogens?
(3 minute video)
What are Pathogens?
(3 minute video)
How an ancient virus spread the ability to remember
How an ancient virus spread the ability to remember
TEDMed Talk by Jason Shepherd, August 8, 2019
Do you remember your oldest memory? Jason Shepherd clearly recalls a childhood filled with questioning the world around him, which naturally lead to a life of scientific discovery.
What is a virus?
What is a virus?
Virology lecture from Dr. Vincent Racaniello, Columbia University
In this lecture, Dr. Racaniello defines viruses, discusses their discovery and fundamental properties, including whether or not they are alive, and explains why they are the most awesome biological entities on Earth.
(FYI: We will only listen to parts of this video, as it's a whole one-hour class :D )
What are microorganimsms?
What are microorganimsms?
Microorganisms were some of the first living things on the planet. Here we explore the two most common pathogenic microorganisms: viruses and bacteria.
Viruses vs. Bacteria | What's the Difference?
Viruses vs. Bacteria | What's the Difference?
Dr. Finch's Lab, July 14, 2017
From the comments:
"My two years of classroom learning summarized in 6 minutes."
"Have had this explained to me several times, but this has to be the most helpful explanation so far. Thank you!"
Want to know more? Scientists are also trying to figure out how single-celled microorganisms turned into multicellular organisms, and it might not have been such a big jump after all!
The momentous transition to multicellular life may not have been so hard after all - by Elizabeth Pennisi, Science Magazine, June 28, 2018 (article and short video)
WEEK TWO
WEEK TWO
Pathogens and beneficial microorganisms and people
Pathogens and beneficial microorganisms and people
by Kathryn DeMuth Sullivan, LabRoots, April 7, 2020
Are we too clean? How changing a body's microbes leads to illness
Are we too clean? How changing a body's microbes leads to illness
TEDx MidAtlantic Talk by Claire Fraser, October 24, 2014
We are more obsessed with cleanliness than ever: we use antibacterial cleansers, we keep our children away from dirt, and we give out antibiotics with little regard for long-term effects. But in the process we are altering our microbiota, the microbes that live on and inside us. And it's causing us to be more sick.
How bacteria rule over your body - the microbiome
How bacteria rule over your body - the microbiome
Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell, October 5, 2017
From the comments:
"This might be the only art style that can be adorable and horrifying at the same time."
"I literally was eating pizza while watching this and decided to put it away to show my bacteria I'm still in charge. Might finish it later tho."
"Have you guys every thought about the fact that we are actually just a collection of millions of trillions of smaller individual organisms working together to survive?"
WEEK THREE
WEEK THREE
What can people do about pathogens?
What can people do about pathogens?
Cognitive bias can overcome even the best of us
Cognitive bias can overcome even the best of us
"We are facing an 'infodemic' – an overload of information, in which fact is hard to separate from fiction."
Run simulations with real-world data and a simulated population.
From Science Buddies (not affiliated with the Sims game developed by Maxis and the Sims Studio).
Links to More Resources
Links to More Resources
The Origin of Life: Viruses, Bacteria, and other Microbes
The Origin of Life: Viruses, Bacteria, and other Microbes
Prehistoric viruses and the function of the brain - by Ryan P. Dalton, Scientific American, December 11, 2018 (read with video)
Brain cells share information with virus-like capsules - by Ed Yong, The Atlantic, January 12, 2018
Are viruses alive? - by Dr. Vincent Racaniello, YouTube Video, June 15, 2016
Where did viruses come from? - by PBS Digital Studios, YouTube Video, June 12, 2018
Why it's so difficult to find Earth's earliest life - by Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, March 30, 2020
The RNA world and the origins of life - by Alberts B., et al. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th Ed. 2002 [TECHNICAL ARTICLE]
How amino acids and peptides shaped the RNA World - by Peter van der Gulik and Dave Speijer, Life, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 19, 2015 [TECHNICAL ARTICLE]
The end of the RNA world is near, biochemists argue - by Jordana Cepelewicz, Quanta Magazine, December 17, 2017
How UV Light Kills Microbes
How UV Light Kills Microbes
Coronavirus crisis shines new light on microbe-blasting UV technology - by Lucy Craft, CBS News, May 26, 2020 (with video)
Coronavirus puts UV in the disinfectant spotlight - by Lindsay Kalter, WebMD Health News, May 19, 2020
Amazon built a roving robot covered in UV light bulbs that could kill the coronavirus in warehouses and Whole Foods stores - by Hayley Peterson, Business Insider, May 11, 2020
Can you kill coronavirus with UV light? - by Zaria Gorvett, BBC Future, April 24, 2020
UV light therapy is being studied as COVID-19 treatment at Cedars-Sinai Hospital - by Chaunie Brusie, Nurse.org News, April 27, 2020.
Beneficial Microbes
Beneficial Microbes
Five Beneficial Effects of Microorganisms - by Blake Flournoy, Sciencing, April 11, 2018
Microbes in us and their role in human health and disease - by Prabarna Ganguly, National Human Genome Research Institute, May 29, 2019
The human microbiome: Why our microbes could be key to our health - by Nicola Davis, The Guardian, March 26, 2018
We are never alone: Living with the human microbiota - by Gabriela Jorge de Silva and Sara Domingues, Frontiers for Young Minds, July 17, 2017 (for younger readers, but a good overview with lots of information)
Bacteria, I want you back: Five friendly microscopic creatures in your body - by Stephen Coscia, Big Think, June 26, 2012
You are your microbes - by Jessica Green and Karen Guillemin, TED-Ed, January 2013 (VIDEO)
How our microbes make us who we are - by Rob Knight, TED2014 (VIDEO)
Mind-altering microbes: how the microbiome affects brain and behavior - by Elaine Hsiao, TEDx Caltech, February 8, 2013 (VIDEO)
Are we too clean? How changing a body's microbes leads to illness - by Claire Fraser, TEDx MidAtlantic, October 24, 2014 (VIDEO)
The Flu Pandemic of 1918/19
The Flu Pandemic of 1918/19
10 misconceptions about the 1918 flu, the ‘greatest pandemic in history’ - by Richard Gunderman, The Conversation, March 17, 2020
Colorised pictures from Spanish Flu 100 years ago . . . - by Ross Slater, Daily Mail Online, May 6, 2020
The Deadliest Flu: The complete story of the discovery and reconstruction of the 1918 pandemic virus, by Douglas Jordan with Dr. Terrence Tumpey and Barbara Jester, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), December 17, 2019
Pandemic Influenza Storybook - no author, CDC, last updated December 23, 2014 (archived)
Napa has known a pandemic before: Looking back at 1918’s deadly Spanish flu - by Barry Eberling, Napa Valley Register, March 14, 2020
Déjà vu? Public gathering places were ordered closed in 1918 during deadly Spanish flu crisis - by Staff Report, Bemidji Pioneer, March 20, 2020
100 years ago, the Spanish flu pandemic tore through New Orleans in three terrifying weeks - by John Magill, The Historic New Orleans Collection, March 27, 2020
1918 Spanish Flu shows why social distancing works - by Michael J. Coren, Richland Source, March 27, 2020
Face masks: What the Spanish Flu can teach us about making them compulsory - by Samuel Cohn, The Conversation, May 1, 2020
The Anti-Mask League: Lockdown protests draw parallels to 1918 pandemic - by Peter Lawrence Kane, The Guardian, April 29, 2020
The world changed its approach to health after the 1918 Flu. Will it after the COVID-19 outbreak? - by Laura Spinney, Time Magazine, March 7, 2020
Historian draws parallels between the 1918 Spanish Flu and today's coronavirus pandemic, interview with Kenneth C. Davis by Lisa Mullins, WBUR, May 11, 2020 (audio interview available)
Salicylates and pandemic influenza mortality, 1918–1919 pharmacology, pathology, and historic evidence - by Karen M. Starko, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 49, Issue 9, Pages 1405–1410, November 15, 2009 [TECHNICAL ARTICLE]
1918 Influenza: The mother of all pandemics, by Jeffery K. Taubenberger and David M. Morens, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Volume 12, Issue 1, Pages 15–22, January 2006 [TECHNICAL ARTICLE]
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