Hannah Rosen

A virus that's super well adapted to doing basically that whole process in birds is going to have to figure out how to do all that stuff in a totally new set of cells. And so this virus will have to check off a lot of evolutionary boxes to adapt itself to us. It has to bind successfully to our cells. It has to get into our cells.

A virus that's super well adapted to doing basically that whole process in birds is going to have to figure out how to do all that stuff in a totally new set of cells. And so this virus will have to check off a lot of evolutionary boxes to adapt itself to us. It has to bind successfully to our cells. It has to get into our cells.

It has to avoid specific parts of our immune system that might be different from a bird's immune system. It has to survive stably in our airways and then get expelled out of those airways and survive long enough in the air to get into another person. That is a pretty long, complicated process. And it's actually not totally clear if the virus's genome is totally capable of making all those changes.

It has to avoid specific parts of our immune system that might be different from a bird's immune system. It has to survive stably in our airways and then get expelled out of those airways and survive long enough in the air to get into another person. That is a pretty long, complicated process. And it's actually not totally clear if the virus's genome is totally capable of making all those changes.

It has to avoid specific parts of our immune system that might be different from a bird's immune system. It has to survive stably in our airways and then get expelled out of those airways and survive long enough in the air to get into another person. That is a pretty long, complicated process. And it's actually not totally clear if the virus's genome is totally capable of making all those changes.

But the more times that it has the opportunity to infect ourselves, basically to infect a person, the more opportunity it is going to have to stumble upon the right number of combinations, if they exist, to start

But the more times that it has the opportunity to infect ourselves, basically to infect a person, the more opportunity it is going to have to stumble upon the right number of combinations, if they exist, to start

But the more times that it has the opportunity to infect ourselves, basically to infect a person, the more opportunity it is going to have to stumble upon the right number of combinations, if they exist, to start

Right. I think what is really important to remind people of here is that just because this is currently a bird-adapted virus does not mean it's going to stay that way. Like you can sort of imagine if you keep throwing a bouncy ball against a wall, it's going to keep bouncing off.

Right. I think what is really important to remind people of here is that just because this is currently a bird-adapted virus does not mean it's going to stay that way. Like you can sort of imagine if you keep throwing a bouncy ball against a wall, it's going to keep bouncing off.

Right. I think what is really important to remind people of here is that just because this is currently a bird-adapted virus does not mean it's going to stay that way. Like you can sort of imagine if you keep throwing a bouncy ball against a wall, it's going to keep bouncing off.

Like unless there's a fundamental change in the composition of that ball, it's not going to stick to that wall permanently. But in this case, we are throwing a ball that won't necessarily stay bouncy. That ball is changing constantly and randomly, and it's totally possible that it will get sticky on its own.

Like unless there's a fundamental change in the composition of that ball, it's not going to stick to that wall permanently. But in this case, we are throwing a ball that won't necessarily stay bouncy. That ball is changing constantly and randomly, and it's totally possible that it will get sticky on its own.

Like unless there's a fundamental change in the composition of that ball, it's not going to stick to that wall permanently. But in this case, we are throwing a ball that won't necessarily stay bouncy. That ball is changing constantly and randomly, and it's totally possible that it will get sticky on its own.

I'd say most people still don't have to change their day-to-day behavior. I would certainly encourage everyone to continue paying attention to the news and to take things like seasonal flu vaccines seriously. We can come back to that in a moment. But I don't think people generally have to worry about what they're eating or the local birds that they see in the park.

I'd say most people still don't have to change their day-to-day behavior. I would certainly encourage everyone to continue paying attention to the news and to take things like seasonal flu vaccines seriously. We can come back to that in a moment. But I don't think people generally have to worry about what they're eating or the local birds that they see in the park.

I'd say most people still don't have to change their day-to-day behavior. I would certainly encourage everyone to continue paying attention to the news and to take things like seasonal flu vaccines seriously. We can come back to that in a moment. But I don't think people generally have to worry about what they're eating or the local birds that they see in the park.

The two exceptions I can think of to that is if you are a raw milk drinker...

The two exceptions I can think of to that is if you are a raw milk drinker...

The two exceptions I can think of to that is if you are a raw milk drinker...