Beyond the Abstract

Episode 8

bonus

Published on:

12th Feb 2020

Novel Coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV)

The novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) is a respiratory virus originating from Wuhan, China that has spread to many countries, causing an outbreak. Headlines on its rapid spread have dominated media and news sites globally, and a lot remains unknown about how the virus infects humans, how it spreads, and how deadly it really is. In this episode of Beyond the Abstract, Ellen and Derek tackle a paper deposited in bioRxiv on how 2019-nCoV infects human cells with similarities to the SARS coronavirus. They may answer questions you have related to the outbreak and put many commonly cited statistics into perspective. Finally, they comment on a new age of science sharing through bioRxiv, a preprint server that has allowed for quicker and cheaper dissemination of science.

This episode was recorded on February 11th, 2020. Shortly after recording this episode, the WHO announced that the virus will be renamed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Hoffman et al. The novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) uses the SARS-coronavirus receptor ACE2 and the cellular protease TMPRSS2 for entry into target cells. bioRxiv, 2020. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.31.929042v1

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About the Podcast

Beyond the Abstract

Science and research for everyone

Hey science nerds! Welcome to Beyond the Abstract, a science podcast dedicated to discussion of the coolest cutting edge, basic science research papers in a way that just about anyone can understand. We're your hosts, Derek, Dan, and Ellen, three MD/PhD students coming from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Medical School who are passionate about science communication and bridging the gap between science and medicine.

In each episode, we’ll dive into a paper and talk about the experiments these scientists did, what it means for the future of research, and even potential impacts on human health and medicine. We've invited experts in these fields to help us understand and dissect these complicated but impactful papers.

We can't wait to share all this cool science with you.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and NOT intended as medical advice. The views and opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests and do not reflect the University of Pennsylvania.

Business contact: beyondabstractpod@gmail.com

About your hosts

Derek Sung, PhD

Derek is a 7th year MD/PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania interested in developmental and vascular biology with plans to apply into pathology. He received his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2022. He is the founder, co-developer, and co-host of Beyond the Abstract.

In his spare time, he likes to listen to All Star by Smash Mouth on repeat, smile too big for photos, pretend to be a sommelier, and throw epic Halloween parties with his roommate.

Ellen White

Ellen is a 3rd year MD/PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania interested in microbiome research with the hopes of specializing in GI medicine. She is a co-developer and co-host of Beyond the Abstract. You can find her listening to Work by Rihanna (feat. Drake) on repeat, getting too invested in college basketball games, or shamelessly watching Real Housewives.

Dan Weiner

Dan is a MD/PhD student at Harvard Medical School. He recently completed his PhD in genomics! He is co-host of Beyond the Abstract.

In his spare time you can find him running, hiking, cooking and scrolling TikTok.