Study Suggests Coronavirus Emerged Much Earlier Than Thought. Some Are Skeptical.

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, June 26, 2020 (with Raphael Minder)

Link

In a study not yet published in a journal, scientists have reported that the new coronavirus was present in wastewater in Barcelona, Spain in March 2019, a finding that, if confirmed, would show that the pathogen had emerged much earlier than previously thought.

But independent experts who reviewed the findings said they doubted the claim. The study was flawed, they said, and other lines of evidence strongly suggest the virus emerged in China late last year.

Up until now, the earliest evidence of the virus anywhere in the world has been from December 2019 in China and it was only known to have hit mainland Spain in February 2020.

Continue reading “Study Suggests Coronavirus Emerged Much Earlier Than Thought. Some Are Skeptical.” →

Life’s Edge: My next book is ready for pre-ordering!

Posted on by Carl Zimmer

I’m delighted to share the new cover of my next book, Life’s Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive. It will be on sale in March 2021, but you can pre-order it now. Not only can you strike it off your to-do list, but you’ll be doing me a big favor, because lots of pre-ordered books translates into extra attention when the book actually goes on sale. I’ll be updating my web site with more information about the book as the publication date approaches.   

Friday’s Elk, June 5, 2020

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Each month brings another grim harvest. When I last sent out a newsletter on May 1, the United States had suffered 64,203 deaths from Covid-19. Today the total has reached 108,708. As researchers probe the overall death rate, the full toll of the pandemic continues to come into sharper focus.

Countries and states that went into lockdown over the past couple months are now starting to loosen their controls. It seems as if a lot of people think this means that the pandemic is over. But there are still plenty of new covid-19 cases every day, and these folks could potentially infect a lot of other people if they board a bus, teach a yoga class, join a choir practice, or do any number of other things that have been shown to let the virus spread quickly from person to person. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, June 5, 2020” →

Genes May Leave Some People More Vulnerable to Severe Covid-19

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, June 3, 2020

Link

Why do some people infected with the coronavirus suffer only mild symptoms, while others become deathly ill?

Geneticists have been scouring our DNA for clues. Now, a study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

Variations at two spots in the human genome are associated with an increased risk of respiratory failure in patients with Covid-19, the researchers found. One of these spots includes the gene that determines blood types.

Continue reading “Genes May Leave Some People More Vulnerable to Severe Covid-19” →