Mystery of Evolution

Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia(NCP), also named COVID-19 by WHO, there is a general fear of the unknown virus as its full effects remain to be seen. Fever, coughing, sore throat, difficulty breathing-the NCP's symptoms are similar to the common cold or the flu. but it's potentially more dangerous.

Viruses could be deadly, like HIV and Ebola (埃博拉) . But what are viruses? How can they cause so much trouble? Viruses are non-living organisms (有机体) approximately one-millionth of an inch long. Unlike human cells or bacteria, they can't reproduce on their own. 【小题1】   

Viruses can infect every living thing-from plants and animals down to the smallest bacteria. For this reason, they always have the potential to be dangerous to human life. Sometimes a virus can cause a disease so serious that it is fatal. Other viral infections cause no noticeable reaction. Viruses lie around our environment all of the time, waiting for a host cell to come along. They can eater our bodies by the nose, mouth, eyes or breaks in the skin. 【小题2】For example, HIV, which causes AIDS. attacks the T-cells of the immune system.

But the basic question is, where did viruses first come from?【小题3】"Tracing the origins of viruses is difficult. " Ed Rybicki, a virologist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, told Scientific American, "because viruses don't leave fossils (化石) and because of the tricks they use to make copies of themselves within the cells they've invaded." 【小题4】First, viruses started as independent organisms, then became parasites (寄生者) . Second. viruses evolved from pieces of DNA or RNA that "escaped" from larger organisms. Third, viruses co-evolved with their host cells, which means they existed alongside these cells.

For the time being, these are only theories. The technology and evidence we have today cannot be used to test these theories and identify the most plausible explanation. 【小题5】 Or future studies may reveal that the answer is even murkier (含糊不清的)   than it now appears.

Innovation(创新) comes from environments where ideas can connect. So what kind of environment does an epidemic(传染病) create when it comes to quickening innovation? This is the very question a new information chart from Top Masters looks to answer. According to the report, ground- breaking innovations have come despite the tragic effect of epidemics throughout history. This is a timely report because people are coming up with some innovative ideas to address many of the challenges brought on by COVID-19.

As epidemics go, the Black Death of the 1300% was extremely shocking. The plague(瘟疫) as it is also known, wiped out up to 60% of the population in Europe. According to the report, it was responsible for changing the economic and social structure of Europe and the creation of a middle class.

There were other outbreaks of the plague in England later on. In 1592, London faced an outbreak that shut down theaters for six months, This led Shakespeare to start writing poetry to make a living. And it was during this time that he wrote Venus and Adonis, and The Rape of Lucre. Another plague in 1606 also closed the theatres in London, and this time Shakespeare wrote King Lear and Macbeth.

In the US, the Boston smallpox epidemic of 1721 led to the spread of variolation(天花接种) which was responsible for reducing the death rate from 14% to2%，2s well as the first steps towards vaccines.

COVID-19 is causing serious damage around the world. And although the death rate is nowhere close, the economic impact has been overwhelming. On the negative side, it has highlighted may of the shortcoming in the healthcare industry as nurses and doctors battled virus unfortunately underequipped.

With increased connectivity and technology, innovators around the world have responded by making the equipment that healthcare workers desperately need Today’s innovators are addressing ventilator(呼吸机) shortages by using 3D printers and designing simpler ventilators; companies are making washable and reusable masks; app are tracking the virus and fighting the spread of misinformation.

Honeybees are in trouble. While they’ re crucial for promoting biodiversity and producing food for healthy human diets, honeybees face many threats, including habitat loss, climate change, air pollution and disease-causing organisms.

But now, there’s hope for helping honeybees fight back against one of the many stressors they face, a deadly infectious disease known as American foulbrood. To fight the disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved for use the world’s first honeybee vaccine (疫苗), developed by Dalan Animal Health.

Bacteria called Paenibacillus larvae cause American foulbrood, which kills honeybees while they are in the pupal (蛹的) or pre-pupal stage. Until now, there was no “safe and sustainable” way to prevent American foulbrood. The only treatment involved antibiotics (抗生素), which are expensive, have limited effectiveness and take lots of time and energy for beekeepers to apply. To stop the spread, beekeepers are often forced to burn infected bees. That makes the vaccine a game changer.

“Our vaccine is a breakthrough in protecting honeybees,” says Annette Kleiser, CEO of Dalan Animal Health. “We are ready to change how we care for insects, impacting food production on a global level.”

Beekeepers will mix the vaccine, which contains dead P. larvae bacteria cells, into the food that worker bees eat. Then, when the worker bees produce their milky royal jelly (蜂王浆), the queen will eat it and the vaccine. Then, the vaccine will protect her developing offspring from the disease.

Under a conditional license from the USDA, Dalan Animal Health now plans to distribute limited amounts of the vaccine to commercial beekeepers. From there, they hope to offer it for sale throughout the U.S. sometime this year.

The federal agriculture agency awards conditional licenses to products that meet an emergency, situation, limited market, local situation or special circumstance. The USDA requires products that receive these types of licenses to be pure and safe, and have a reasonable expectation of effectiveness. Generally, conditional licenses come with restrictions and cover a limited period of time. Once that period ends, the agency evaluates the product’s effectiveness to determine whether to renew the conditional license or award a regular product license.