17:00
Zoonoses and the emergence of Covid-19
LIVE STREAMING EVENT
Chairperson: Gilberto Corbellini
Zoonotic diseases have long been a burden on human societies and will likely increase in frequency. Fortunately, new genomic technologies provide a powerful way to rapidly reveal the origins of epidemics. Here, I will demonstrate the utility of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in pathogen discovery, focusing on the emergence of COVID-19. I will discuss the likely theories for its origin and emergence, and consider why coronaviruses so commonly jump to new hosts. I will end by outlining how we can prevent pandemics like COVID-19 ever happening again.