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How Epidemics Have Shaped Our World with Mike Magee

October 24, 2022
Submitted By: Max Strubel
Epidemics Map

Infectious diseases have been critical determinants in human history, triggering societal transformation and swaying the course of economic systems, revolutions, and trans-migrations of global populations. Join “Dr. Mike” to understand how scientists’ approach to fighting germs has shifted over time. The pendulum swings; scientists presume more, and then, less control. We begin with the Industrial Revolution when the establishment sought to clean germs out of existence, in keeping with the motto “cleanliness is next to godliness.” We continue to the post-World-War-Two era when scientists dared to hope that they could defeat enemy microbes and diseases permanently until HIV/AIDs challenged their hubris. We end with the contemporary era, where scientists admit that we can, at best, stay one step ahead of rapidly evolving microbes in an era of mass travel, global warming, and persistent warfare. In the face of such uncertainty, what peril or promise does the controversial “gain-of-function” viral research hold to help us keep further epidemics at bay?

Session I: Germs, Conquest and Warfare

Session II: Germ Theory, the Industrial Revolution, and the Sanitary Movement

Session III: Scientific Hubris: Closing the Book on Infectious Diseases

Session IV: Outwitting Microbes: Risk/Benefit of “Gain-of-Function” Research

 

Wednesdays: Oct. 26, Nov. 2, 9, 16 | 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m.| $80 | KF Room

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