Babbage: Beyond immunity
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.4 • 4.9K Ratings
🗓️ 29 April 2020
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The immune system plays a vital role in protecting humans from infections, but how is it faring against covid-19? Pascal Soriot, chief executive of the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, tells host, Kenneth Cukier, about potential treatments for covid patients. Plus, do people build up an immunity to covid-19 if they have recovered from it, or can they catch it again? And, Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, on how acts of kindness can boost the immune system.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Games, stories or cartoons, whatever they love, guide your child to the right apps for them. |
| 0:05.6 | Google's family link lets you block or approve their app downloads, |
| 0:09.1 | helping you find a healthier balance for your family online. |
| 0:12.5 | Download the Google Family link app today. |
| 0:24.5 | The human immune system is a wonder of nature, |
| 0:27.7 | designed by evolution to fight intruders to keep us alive. |
| 0:31.7 | But how well is it fairing in the battle against COVID-19? |
| 0:37.1 | A low and welcome to Babbage from Economist Radio |
| 0:39.8 | are weekly podcasts on technology and science. |
| 0:42.6 | I'm Kenneth Cuckier, a senior editor at The Economist, |
| 0:45.8 | and coming up on today's show. |
| 0:49.6 | Can you catch COVID-19 more than once? |
| 0:52.9 | Politicians around the world have been talking about following the science. |
| 0:56.0 | Unfortunately, science hasn't told us anything about this, |
| 0:59.2 | and we just won't know for at least another year, maybe more. |
| 1:03.6 | And how might being kind give your immune system a boost? |
| 1:08.7 | People who are asked to do acts of kindness for others |
| 1:11.2 | show changes in their RNA gene expression |
| 1:14.0 | that were associated with a stronger immune profile. |
| 1:18.1 | First up, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca |
| 1:27.5 | is preparing to start clinical trials on a treatment |
| 1:30.4 | for severely ill COVID-19 patients. |
... |
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