Vaccines are our main defense against a novel pathogen, passing like a wrecking ball through the human population. The COVID vaccines will almost certainly prove to be one of the major scientific advances of our time. They are the clearest sign yet of a revolution in biology that can save and enhance the lives of people everywhere. People often reject truly disruptive technologies, at least for a while.
Malcolm talks with his old friend, the brilliant science writer Michael Specter, about the future of life on Earth. Michael's response to the Covid-19 pandemic was to create a new audiobook on how the mRNA vaccines have sparked a biotechnology revolution: Higher Animals: Vaccines, Synthetic Biology, and the Future of Life. He and Malcolm talk about how this scientific revolution is bigger than many that came before it, about the promise of heritable vaccines for endangered species, and about how a smallpox infection could genuinely have wiped out New York in 1947. Also, we share a portion of Higher Animals' first, thrilling chapter. To purchase your own, complete copy of Michael Specter's Higher Animals, visit Pushkin.fm.
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