What happens if an engineered virus escapes the lab?
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- Опубліковано 13 бер 2023
- How do we keep labs that handle dangerous pathogens safe and leak-free? Dig into the ongoing debate over virology research.
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Since the 1970s, researchers have engineered superbugs. While this research could help us prepare for future outbreaks, the stakes of this work are extremely high: if even one dangerous virus escaped a lab, it could cause a global pandemic. So, what can we do to minimize risk? And is the knowledge gained even worth the risk in the first place? Dig into the ongoing debate over virology research.
Directed by Kevin Herrmann, AIM Creative Studios.
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What happens? We get locked in our homes for nearly 2 years
Are you Chinese? Cause lockdowns lasted at most 3 months
Like it sucked, but some people pretend like it was 10x longer than what it was.
We don’t need to do that. We all know how it was. No need to exaggerate it to make it sound even more difficult
3.
3 Years.
And anyone who suggests “maybe this came from a lab” is smeared as a conspiracy theorist
@@plotheplayer6462 who’s currently been in lockdown since 2020?
@@jtgd shoot, good point
I like how this addresses a potential, hypothetical elephant in the room without acknowledging the one that just ransacked the planet.
I don't know man, I feel TED has deliberately chosen topics that orient toward a particular political trend.
if a virus like covid-19 was engineered to be a bioweapon and broke out I would probably not be alive right now. We would however know it was engineered from the genetic code
I find it especially funny because covid checks all the boxes they mention of a super bug and yet they don't mention it at all.
careful, you are flirting with misinformation
edit for the few people who didn't get it: it's sarcasm
Great observation👌🏼
The older I get the more I realize that the biggest threat to humanity is incompetence
I agree but I immediately thought " Who are you going to get that wants to work there"? and also the thought, try anything enough and there are bound to be mistakes.
Yes. That's why I can't approve of having a nuclear plant in my country given how corrupt and incompetent our govt. is.
Intent is first
or competence with wrong intent
Or themselves
In Denmark, we have a small isolated Island named "Lindholm" and is a biolab working on dangerous substances and virusses. You arrive via one of only two ferries that connect the island to the rest of Denmark, and then you head home. But if something goes wrong the island essentially would shut down and not allow people to enter or leave unless they are here to take care of the situation.
But recently, the DTU (the institute that owns an works the biolab) moved all their work from the island to new campus laboratories to just north of the Copenhagen on Zealand, one of Denmarks main islands that is connected by train, bridges, ferries and airport to the rest of the world. They finished this at around 2019.
While I do understand that the new labs offer a heightened level of security, research oppertunities, better tools and facilities, I would still feel much safer knowing that a lab working on dangerous virusses was isolated at sea, than just north up the highway of one of the worlds capitals
Denmark…
@@beppson9201 ?
@@Hallands. Denmark...
@@dudeaverage5344 😂What is it with you and Denmark?
Hello fellow northern neighbor. The German "Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut" with its Biosafety level 4 lab is also located on a tiny island called "Riems", even though there was a road connection build in the 70s. Interestingly, both institutes are research facilities for veterinary health.
Props to all the animators who works in these videos. You guys make it so much easier to understand
These animators need to make a movie or something
@@chargeminecraft *The Ted-ed movie*
Love the animations but this small head style on the illustrations is present on every single stock website … I don’t know if the people creating this characters was actually parodying this style sine it started trending in 2020 when the pandemic started or they just are unaware that every single illustrator and their moms are doing characters with small heads and huge hands just like these
Naw man props to the cammera man
I like the character design 🤷♂️
If a virus was about to escape a lab, I would just hope the lab was a 4x4 grid, with doors on adjacent sides of each room and a handle to destroy each room.
this joke actually hits so hard but only if you get it
Hint: Ted ed's riddle video...
Finally a Ted ed riddle joke that is not about green eyes
And that the room you begin in is not infected, that's a key point.
And everyone who solved that riddle can save the world 😂
I worked in an anthrax lab a good number of years back, and one of the more terrifying aspects of Bacillus anthracis is just how durable and long lasting the spores can be. While studies don't always agree, the lifespan of the spores in soil is somewhere between decades and centuries.
Luckily, human-to-human transmission of anthrax (from infected individual to non) is virtually unheard of, so it'll never go pandemic. But the fact that it takes several human lifetimes for the spores to no longer be viable is pretty daunting from a safety/clean up perspective.
Can't the spores be incinerated? That's where most biohazard waste end up.
@@_Just_Another_Guy They can. I know for a fact that industrial autoclaves can properly sterilize anthrax spores.
The issue is that you can't autoclave an entire building. Additionally, anthrax spores are commonly found in the soil of cattle farms, so if that land is later developed into housing or other structures, you have a big health risk to the construction crews and/or future residents.
.
Mistakes like this have happened and will happen again. It’s a shame there’s so much ego involved in the current situation that we might never know what happened.
The virus genome shows no signs of human engineering.
Boom, wonder no longer.
Now that doesn't mean that it couldn't have come from a lab, but it was not being modified in the lab.
I remember that people were not allowed to even speculate if the virus is a lab leak. What a memory for us and what a lesson for the society and future generations.
True, when the top most official is corrupt anything is possible
It's still not a lab leak.
you personally were allowed to speculate, but news broadcasters couldn’t bc there wasnt any evidence yet
@@clayel1 there wasn't any about the bat soup either. And aren't scientist free to discuss and debate ideas? If bat soup and lab leak were both theories, why suppress one and preach the other?
Also, wasn't Facebook censoring news about it?
I remember when anyone who said that the virus could have leaked from the lab were being banned from social media for spreading misinformation.
Governments would need to be honest and transparent for any of these disaster countermeasures to work.
Thank god this has never happened on a global scale until now. Happy January 2020 everyone!
💀
🥂
Happy New Year!! Horray to the best decade in modern history!
One detail to note is that at the end we see labs isolated on the tops of mountains, which to me shows that it’s a good idea for this sort of research to take place in remote areas far from human civilization. The commute is a nightmare, but this will minimize the risk of leaks compared to if the lab were in the heart of a major city or something like that
What virus made their head so small?
Zika virus probably
@@varung1167 daaaaaamn, now I feel ashamed for laughing
Malaria? 💀
Interesting. Didn't know there had been so many documented and public data on the accidents. Because of this, a probability density function can be constructed of the likelihood of an accident occurring. This, then, can be used to find the worst-case scenario of one of these labs. That is, a cost-benefit analysis can be used to determine if one of these labs is worth the risk that they're investigating.
Like the P4 lab in Wuhan, China where the same city COVID-19 pandemic began?
Probably none of them are
They've all probably done this and still decided that it's worth the risk. They're balancing the possibility of causing an "artificial" pandemic with the possibility of being prepared for a naturally occurring one.
Just save the money from the lab and spend it on emergency preparation
@@andrej2375 The lab is part of emergency preparation though. It's doing research that can help prepare for future pandemics.
The prevention of future lab leaks requires international cooperation, accessible records of funding, research, and safety methods, and open independent investigations. The worst things that can happen are lack of cooperation, lack of admissions of funding, lack of disclosure of research, attempts to change the commonly accepted definition of “gain-of-function,” asking funders to investigate their own research, and censorship of scientific debate. All of these things failed in the past several years, as governments, agencies, and individuals tried to hide their culpability in Covid-19.
Cov19 exposed the deep corruption in government, media and big pharma to exploit and control the populous.
L bozo
I don't have any faith that these research institutes would willingly admit or disclose any information about a lab leak without covering it up themselves first if ever there could be an outbreak that arose from it.
@@8stormy5 bot
Do you really think China will cooperate?/ smh
Nothing could possibly go wrong
One way to help would be to do the research in secluded areas like up in the mountains or Antarctica because if I gets out, it won’t survive.
Damn genius🤡
Antartica after melting out thanks to climate change and letting millions of deadly viruses on the oceans: 🥰😍😘
bingo
it helps, but all it takes is one scientist to accidentally take sometime home and then theres an outbreak
this stuff can only be reliably prevented with a lot of security and double/triple-checks
The cold would only preserve the viruses, not kill them
Content is amazing as well as thought provoking!!!
However, the animators stole the show for me….it was so much clever & engaging that it perfectly served the top-goals you guys have - educating!!!
A big thumbs up to the animators once again!!!! 👍🏻
Title:What happens if an engineered virus escaped the lab?
Me: We already know from 3 years 👽
There isn’t enough evidence to determine an origin yet everything is still a theory
Remember when they shut down any conversation about a lab leak? Pepperidge farm remembers
LOL
Those people said the virus was a biological WMD, it's not the same thing as saying it came from a lab
This already happened didn’t it?
2 year ago, and no mention of it at all
@@kirangouds ZIKA virus does that. Also engineered.
@@kirangouds shhhhhhhh
......that's "Misinformation" .
Well if you watch the video, several instances in the past are shown. So, yes?
I don’t know there’s no proof so.. 🤔
The EPPP work seems like an unmoral work that just brings risks.
Case in point, 2020.
But it also has argument defending it. Moral and ethics are always considered when it comes to research after all. it's just whether it's worth the risk short term or long term
the morality is that the next pandemic wont be as disastrous as covid because we would actually know what to do, and politicians and health agencies wouldnt confuse everyone with conflicting advice that changes by the second. we tried to partially implement some of the ideas we had learnt, and did it so poorly that the lockdowns that should really have lasted 3 months max lasted 2 years on and off. they would also start on time. any future pandemic hopefully occurs after the next technological revolution, so less people are required to meet up during any future lockdown.
wouldn't it be a good idea to just have their research facilities on a secluded area far from civilization like an island or in mountains, and then have them sign something beforehand saying that if there is a leak, they have to stay in that facility until everything is clear? so an outbreak won't start? perhaps it's easier said than done lol
You're gonna have people and stuff coming and going from the lab. There's pretty much no way around that.
That presumes that politicians and bureaucrats would be willing to stay put
It's about cost and politics:
-If it's exceedingly dangerous, there needs to be a justification for the risk, which impacts project funding. Then the "risk" and "threat" of the project is low-balled so it can get a greenlight.
-If such a dangerous concept is put to work, the controls need to not exasperate the project funding. Islands are expensive to work from and only governments seem to use them, like Gitmo, Alkatraz, etc - and the funding costs are astronomical.
-If the controls fail in the event of an "error", employees may fear for thier career, managers could fear for the project - and despite anything they sign, they may decide that they'd risk all or nothing in order to save face.
The problem is almost entirely human. Bioscience is expensive and rife with insider-ness and corporate meddling.
Counter-intuitively, it's actually more important that you have plenty of infrastructure to immediately replace anything that breaks or goes wrong with the biosecurity measures.
@@scrambo6182 whatever protective infrastructure you're talking about is still better off as another attached layer of the isolated lab - there's no arguing for putting the place in close contact with civilian infrastructure, none - no excuses for not taking the precaution to build an entire self sufficient isolated place to put your horrible biohazards - be able to keep them disconnected from society or don't build them at all
the animators always do such nice work!!
loved the The Lord of the Rings reference with the beacons
...talking about Anthrax, in USA this had cause lot of anxiety. Remember the last postal incident in this regard and where the analysis of this dangerous microbe was conducted??? Was this facility equipped with level 4 safety? Luckily, the outcome was negative!
No Dave Chappelle was snorting mysterious white powder in envelopes lol
Point is that a facility that was not equipped was engaged in a task which was/could be dangerous. Question is what if that was a true Anthrax threat??
@@WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs
The real question is, Belladona Anthrax or John Bush Anthrax?
Anthrax is a biosafety level 3 pathogen not a biosafety level 4 pathogen therefore biosafety level 4 containment is not necessary to safely work with anthrax
One idea I have is to ensure viruses are studied in geographically isolated areas. Pick an island away from civilization, build a lab there, and pass laws to ensure travel to and from the island takes at least 14 days. This means airplanes are prohibited from landing there, only boats that meet certain requirements are allowed to and from the island, etc.
Kudos to the animation team. Brilliant as always.
These animations are insane. I love it.
I think we all know exactly what happens......
I guess we've already experienced this recently, no?
no.
not really
Yes we just did and there's more coming.
yes
COVID-19 by China
I know the answer, We lie about it, and call everyone a conspiracy theorist LOL
I feel like the animators' choice to give the people small heads indicates what side they fall on this issue. lol Thanks for the info and push for collaboration, cooperation, and transparency!
What’s even more concerning is if there are nefarious actors at play.. not merely incompetent humans
The animation helps a lot to understand. Very convenient to concentrate.
Thank you for bringing this to us all!
Artstyle and animation are sooo good! Direction, storyboard and animation by Kevin Herrmann... must be nice to be this talented
The animations are just so on point!
Thank you to all these colossal titans performing this skit for us.
I discovered this channel a week ago and i just can not stop watching it , super cool XD
I'm now studying about virus and what a coincidence. I'm very happy to see this video. It really helps. Thanx
So essentially the history of the covid leak
Imagine this video 2 years ago
I do agree about the study of virology in an isolated area but for the purpose of research and not biowarfare.
wow! the animation looks really good! and the video is very informative, interesting, and well explained! keep up with the good work
There could be better sound design.
What happens? 2020 happens, that's what.
This is giving me déjà Vu to a time known as that year 2020…
I didn’t have to watch the whole video to know what happens 😂
Thank god, i was wondering what i should do now that my engineered virus escaped my lab
moshi moshi
Me too, really glad resources like this exist
We are so screwed.
The tiny heads are a nice touch.
❤ I love this animation style!! Great work! 😮 Super engaging to look at, and I don’t recall seeing it before now. Props to those that made it! Added wonderfully to the overall video, like so many others are saying.
People that work with viruses that can infect humans should not go back home every night. They should be required to stay quarantined for the duration of their work and the amount of time needed for symptoms to show up after working with such viruses as a precaution. Only be cleared to go after they have been confirmed non infected.
You know that can be years, right? My brother worked for a company that made treatments. If a project started today and you just had a kid by the time the trials would be ready for market the kid would likely by choosing colleges.
The animations help me understand a lot and make videos much more interesting.Thanks!
Agreed!
1:35 Yoshi battles the pink robots makes sense now
Best animation style TED has ever used
Imagine a year ago this video would of been taken down and this YT channel would have been banned.
true
2 years too late TED, needed this video when the Lab Leak Hypothesis was a "Conspiracy Theory" not now when it's one of the most likely explanations for Covid.
There is leaked messages from gov officials talking about the leak
Sources?
I mean, I'm not here to argue, just curious.
@@aleksythehorse5984 The united states government. Have you been under a rock for the last 90 days?
Would have been banned by the YT.
@@aleksythehorse5984 the US said it’s the most likely option. Hasn’t been confirmed yet
4:59 THE BEACONS ARE LIT! Gondor calls for aid!
Those smallpox samples were mine. I went to go get some ice cream and forgot that I left them there back in ‘87.
Finally someone who informs us about *why* and *how* COVID could have possibly escaped from a lab. Even though we have read from newspaper this scenario numerous times being investigated, they never explain anything!!!!!
it was let out, that's why we will never get any explanation..
the FBI confirmed it I believe
@@crimsondesolation give source or shut up
www.ernst.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ernst-release-new-intel-linking-wuhan-lab-to-the-origins-of-covid-19
Lmao. The only proofs can come from china and we all know how china deals with information
TED_Ed: *Scientists spilling stuff*
NileRed: 😅🙄
🤣
this video is so amazingly well put
Don’t put these labs near major population centres
Oh boy the comments are going to be fun on this video
It's like no one reads Mary Shelley anymore. They forget that the monster in Frankenstein wasn't the creature, it was the doctor/scientist.
damn that's true, the monster was innocent
3:52 The ratio of head to body is hilarious.
i wish this came out 3 years ago
These are leaks or errors the public knows about. Imagine what we don’t know. As a scientist that does wet lab work, we underestimate human stupidity and incompetence. Technology has allowed us to create so many great things but technology has also given us the power to create bad things so it’s only a matter of time before something catastrophic happens
2:51 “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”
Absolutely love the art on this one.
Okay, I don't know if the "lighting of the beacons" reference is intentional, but it is still great.
I wonder what prompted this video.
can we just stop genetically engineering viruses 😭💀💀
Why not start using remote controlled Robots in isolated labs. Sure easier said than done, but feasible.
Oh hey, anybody remember the lab on the mountain with the bridge riddle? Good thing that place was super far off and not in some city
It's so interesting that this information is being shared now - especially when you consider that the WEF funds some of the TED Ed videos. Very interesting!
We know what happens.
"If even one... escaped a lab, it could cause a global pandemic."
Fauci should be accountable
We were there, like, all of us
@@kirangoudswhat did he do?
AMAZING ANIMATION, LOVED IT
best tactic to tackle human errors is
no human in the loop in the first place
It would seem we have already answered this question years ago.
For some reason, this seems to be a shocker for a lot of people? Maybe if they removed their head from their "you know what".
Interesting. Was the atomic bomb developped for scientists to study it too? To save lives in case of one exploding?
Atomic bombs can be controlled so that you only kill a bunch of people from one specific location, viruses can't because they spread. Atomic bombs don't appear naturally because they are human made weapons, viruses do and they aren't very good weapons anyways
the transition is crazy
Thank you for this video! 😀🌹
lmao even TED is talking about it
I dont get it plz explain
Is it like a trend or something
@@richardmendy4914 This is made in response to the increasing confirmation that covid is from a lab leak.
Ted should be talking about the woo han floo, the us labs in You crane working now
@@richardmendy4914 the hypothesis that COVID was a lab leak is gaining popularity
Dude ... The animation... Wow
I think that it's worth mentioning that the title of this video is what happens when an engineered virus escapes the lab, but bacillus anthracis more commonly known as anthrax is also mentioned at the start of this video, and anthrax is in fact a bacteria. Speaking of anthrax I got a letter in the post from the same post office affected by the 2001 anhtrax attacks between 18 September and 9 October 2001. I didn't know how to react when the person who handed me that letter said check the envelope for white powder but I quickly realized that it was serious and not something to be taken lightly. Fortunately it was a false alarm and the envelope addressed to me from the same US post office affected by the 2001 anthrax attacks did not contain any anthrax spores but it was an experience that I will never forget.
4:00 I wonder if they are okay and how do you even react to that-
3 different researchers have independently done that by accident, and some of them died
An accident with a needle like that is called a needlestick accident, and according to wikipedia, accidents like that happen a lot and in some particular cases can lead to actual PSTD.
I feel really bad for them, that has to be a really horrible way to die :(
The new animations are great. Now what about a video on how fast our tech is progressing and what will AI do for the human race.
It's amazing we made it as far as we have
What a brilliant video as a whole
It's wonderful (thanks a lot for learning from here)☀️♥️🌷
COVID 19 enters chat:
I was hoping this video would show how people in positions of power, cover up big mistakes to avoid any accountability.
this is not a conspiracy channel. bye.
to be honest, people in any position cover up mistakes to avoid accountability. Doesn't even need to be said
For that, all you need to do is read the news!
@@miguelfilipe8925 The news is reporting that covid may have come from a lab. It's not a conspiracy theory.
@@gunar.kroeger I think it's something that does need discussion. A lot of people assume authorities will follow the policies & procedures put in place & that they will be held accountable for their actions.
We already learned what happens
Love the animation style how do they do this tho ? Perspective?
“How do we prevent outbreaks?” Seems like prosecuting those involved in pathogen releases (from financiers on down) would disincentivize reckless behaviors…
Saying that Big Pharma is 'trying to save lives' is like me asking you for money because your wallet's too heavy for you to carry.😂
great analogy
We can say the same thing about "biologic food" or "homeopathy" companys.
💯 %.
You got it!
it's not exactly in the best interest of big pharma for millions to die mate
The animation is mesmerizing 🎉
When you’re “playing” God, you can expect catastrophic human errors