This fall I gave a number of talks about the flu, and how evolutionary biologists are helping to make sense of this vexing virus. The University of British Columbia, where I spoke in November, has posted the lecture I gave there on YouTube. For ease of viewing, I’ve embedded all six segments of the talk below.
A few caveats. A couple labels got lost in the conversion of my Keynote to Powerpoint during the preparation of the video. And the numbers I gave for the 2009 H1N1 flu are now a bit out of date. As of this week, the Centers for Disease Control estimate that about 50 million people in the U.S. have come down with the new flu strain since it first hit the country in April. 2009 H1N1 is responsible for just about all the flu so far this year. For the past few weeks it has been subsiding, but it may come back for another whack at us in a few weeks. Meanwhile, there hasn’t been any seasonal flu yet. Of the people who contracted 2009 H1N1 in the United States, about 10,000 have died. (As I mention in the talk, 36,000 people a year die of the seasonal flu in the U.S.)
And now, without further ado, I give you the flu!
Part 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZmSyXUcgog
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpaKzvJUuk8
Part 5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYdX_O0Xb4
Part 6:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPvwDHetWA4
Originally published December 12, 2009. Copyright 2009 Carl Zimmer.