Every Virus Needs a Host and the Answer Lies Within Each of Us

From the 10/9/2020 newsletter

Perspective

Every Virus Needs a Host and the Answer Lies Within Each of Us

By Balaraman Kalyanaraman, PhD – Chair, Department of Biophysics

I don’t know about you, but the terms “social distancing,” “self-quarantining,” “asymptomatic,” and “flattening the curve” were all new to me until just a few months ago! You are not alone if you’re suffering from COVID-19 news fatigue and can’t wait to have your “old and boring” life back ASAP.

It took me a while to figure out that social distancing is not the same as anti- social, and that self-quarantining is not a punishment. Apparently, social distancing existed in medieval times and was used to fight the bubonic plague. Here is some historical “viral” news that may interest you.

Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727)

Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727), a transformative scholar, inventor, and writer, made all his discoveries in the fields of calculus, astronomy, optics, and gravitation, while in isolation. In case you are new to social distancing history, here is my take.

Twenty-three-year-old Newton was studying at University of Cambridge in England in 1665, when London was hit with the Great Plague. The university temporarily closed, and Newton went to his family home in the countryside. Even then, the rate of infection was recognized to be much higher in densely populated cities than in the rural areas. He used his time off wisely and started to think boldly in isolation. No emails from or videoconferencing with professors! No social media! Newton spent a lot of time musing under an apple tree in the backyard, and legend has it that one afternoon he was bonked on the head by a falling apple. Rather than being miffed about it, he wondered why

the apple fell straight rather than swerving, going up, or going sideways! Well, there you have it—the discovery of gravitational force. Newton also postulated the three laws of motion:

1. Everybody remains in a state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by a net external force. How true! I saw it in a health club. Good motivational messaging! Now that I stopped going to the health club, I try to social distance with the refrigerator.

2. The amount of acceleration of a body is proportional to the acting force and inversely proportional to the mass of the body; f = ma. I don’t know why your car is so f@#*king damaged when you hit a deer at 70 mph.

3. For every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction. Hmm, does this remind you of what is going on in Washington, D.C.?

Having worked out his theories on gravitation, calculus, and laws of motion, Newton returned to Cambridge after the plague subsided. He went from student to full professor in two years. By the way, the two years Newton spent in isolation and discovering new theories of nature are known as annus mirabilis or “remarkable years.” Who knows? Some of our graduate students may realize 2020 was their annus mirabilis!

Sir William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

Many artists completed their classic works during isolation from a pandemic. Sir William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was one of them. Shakespeare was an actor, shareholder, and playwright. After an outbreak of bubonic plague, London’s theatres were shut down and Shakespeare was out of a job! He decided to use his free time to write plays, including masterpieces like King Lear and Macbeth. However, Shakespeare’s most plague-inspired play was Romeo and Juliet, in which the plague and quarantine play a prominent role in the plot. Here are some Romeo and Juliet highlights and my thoughts on what Shakespeare can teach us all in the midst of COVID-19. Juliet and Romeo, from two feuding families in Verona, Italy, were in love but their families did not approve of their

relationship. So, they secretly arranged to elope. In the meantime, Juliet’s family decided she would marry someone else. Juliet’s mentor had a counterplan to put her to sleep with a clever drug that would make her appear dead. A letter describing this plan was arranged to be delivered to Romeo. Spoiler alert: Romeo did not get the message because the messenger was quarantined and could not leave Verona due to the plague. You know the rest of the story. So, what did Shakespeare teach us all that can be applied to COVID-19 and the upcoming presidential election? During a pandemic, mail delivery might be slowed down or even crippled, so people opting to vote absentee should do so in advance so their votes are delivered on time and uninterrupted. (If you haven’t already requested your absentee ballot, you can do so here.)

2020 and COVID-19

Seriously, folks, we have a lot to be proud of. How can we forget the incredible sacrifices made by all the doctors, nurses, health-care workers, scientists, firefighters, grocery store and delivery workers, IT professionals, and all the other essential workers that have kept us going? Recovered COVID-19 patients have given their plasma to COVID-19 ICU patients, saving their lives. Automobile workers have repurposed their skills to make lifesaving ventilators. The list goes on. Stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things abound in the time of COVID-19: An Arizona woman on an Indian reservation raised millions of dollars through GoFundMe to help the elderly and struggling families living without electricity or running water. These are our real heroes.

COVID-19 vaccines are moving rapidly through the pipeline and are undergoing clinical trials in record time. Operation Warp Speed, a public–private partnership, was initiated to develop and distribute safe and effective vaccines. Several vaccine candidates attacking SARS-CoV-2 via different mechanistic pathways will become available. Thanks to all the scientists from National Institutes of Health, University of Oxford, AstraZeneca, the Serum Institute of India, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.

Years from now, 2020 will go down as our annus mirabilis.

Every virus needs a host, but we don’t have to be hospitable. At least part of the solution to keeping SARS-CoV-2 at bay is that we must continue doing the simple things to keep everyone safe—wearing masks, social distancing, washing our hands, sanitizing surfaces, and avoiding touching our faces. Let us remember our heroes and be grateful for all they have done for us. Together, we will get through this.

Thanks to The New Yorker, Gates Notes, The Atlantic, CNN Opinion, InsideHook, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! for news and inspiration.

Balaraman Kalyanaraman PhD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biophysics at MCW.