A virus detection network to stop the next pandemic | Pardis Sabeti and Christian Happi

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2020

⏱️ 6 minutes

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Summary

How can we stop the next pandemic before it starts? Disease researchers Pardis Sabeti and Christian Happi introduce Sentinel, an early warning system that detects and tracks viral threats in real time -- and could help stop them before they spread. Learn more about the cutting-edge technology that powers the system and how the Sentinel team is helping scientists and health workers during the coronavirus pandemic. (This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED’s initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

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0:00.0	Hi, it's Elise Hume. You're listening to TED Talks Daily.
0:07.2	Partizabeti and Christian Happy are both geneticists and researchers who have been studying infectious diseases together for years.
0:14.7	Together, they developed an early warning system for pandemics called Sentinel, which they lay out in this talk.
0:24.1	Sentinel is a proactive early warning system to preempt pandemics. It is built on three major
0:32.1	pillars. The first pillar is detect. Christ and I have been studying infectious diseases
0:37.1	together around the world for two decades.
0:40.2	We've been using genome sequencing, reading out the complete genetic information of a
0:44.8	microbe.
0:45.5	It allows us to identify viruses, even those we've never seen before, track them as they spread,
0:51.2	and watch for new mutations.
0:53.1	And now with the powerful gene editing
0:54.8	technology, CRISPR, we can use this genetic information to rapidly design exquisitely
1:00.8	sensitive diagnostic tests for any microbe. One of these tools is called shell up. It can be used
1:07.7	to test non-viruses on simple paper strips.
1:12.6	It is very inexpensive, and frontline health workers can use shellop to detect the most common
1:19.2	or the most threatening viruses within an hour.
1:23.7	The other tool is Carmen.
1:25.4	It requires a lab, but it can test for hundreds of viruses simultaneously.
1:29.3	So hospital lab staff can test patient samples for a broad range of viruses within a day.
1:35.3	Our second pillar is connect. Connect everyone and share this information across the public health community.
1:43.3	In most outbreaks, hospital staff share case
1:46.1	information through paper, Excel, if at all. This makes tracking an outbreak through space and time
	...

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