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Science Friday

Long-Term COVID Effects, Dicamba and Agriculture, Mosquitoes. July 24, 2020, Part 2

Science Friday

Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science, Life Sciences, Wnyc, Natural Sciences, Friday

4.4 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2020

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Since the beginning of the pandemic, hospitals have been treating and triaging an influx of COVID-19 patients. Hundreds of thousands of seriously ill patients have been hospitalized, with some having to stay and receive care for months at a time.   But now as some of those patients return home, hospitals are opening post-COVID clinics to help with their transition. Health care professionals are monitoring the recovery process and taking note of persisting health issues from the disease. Mafuzur Rahman, clinician and leader of the post-discharge COVID-19 clinic at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, New York, and Margaret Wheeler, a physician at the Richard Fine’s People Clinic at San Francisco General Hospital, talk about the health effects they have seen in their patients and what patients may need for recovery. A federal court in California recently vacated the three popular dicamba herbicides—Xtendimax, Fexipan, and Engenia—after the court determined the EPA violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) by registering the chemicals for use. Environmental advocates rejoiced, while farm groups lamented the decision as yet another hurdle for farmers to overcome during a difficult year. More herbicides could face legal challenges in the coming years. But they were once part of a golden era of U.S. agriculture, and a key player in the rise of modern industrialized growing systems. There are over 3,000 mosquitoes, but only a handful feast on blood, like the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Other mammals also have blood running through their veins, but are bit less frequently. So why do mosquitoes love humans so much? New research on these bugs look into the cause, investigating mosquitoes’ preference for certain mammal odors and human population densities. Another paper examines a potential gene solution to decrease mosquito bites—thus lowering transmission of mosquito-borne diseases. Joining Ira to talk about the latest research and more mosquito science is “Lindy” McBride, biology assistant professor at Princeton University and Jake Tu, biochemistry professor at Virginia Tech.

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Flato. A bit later in the hour, hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized. We'll talk about what some of the long-lasting impacts might be and what recovery might look like for them. But first is time to check in on the state of science.

0:17.4

This is KERNO. St. Louis Public Radio News.

0:20.8

Iowa Public Radio News.

0:22.7

Local science stories of national significance.

0:26.3

Last month, a federal judge ruled a popular group of herbicides can no longer be used by

0:31.1

farmers.

0:32.3

This is considered a win for environmentalists.

0:35.1

These are strong chemicals and have the tendency to stray from where they're

0:39.2

sprayed. But some farmers say this ruling is a slap in the face for them, and a bureaucratic nightmare

0:45.5

has ensued since. Here with us to talk about this story is Christina Stella, Harvest Public Media

0:52.1

Reporter for NET. That's Nebraska's Public Media Service.

0:56.2

She's based in Lincoln, Nebraska.

0:58.0

Welcome back to Science Friday.

0:59.8

Thanks for having me, Ira.

1:01.1

Let's begin with what herbicides.

1:03.5

What are the herbicides that are affected by this ruling?

1:06.8

The three chemicals that have been affected are Ingenia, Extendomax, and Phexipam, which are three

1:12.8

popular dicamba herbicides.

1:15.6

So walk us through what the big deal is about the dicamba herbicides.

1:19.8

Yeah, so diCamba is a very common chemical found in herbicides that a lot of farmers use on

1:25.8

their fields to control their weeds.

1:28.2

It's actually been around for several decades and was developed in what some experts call

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