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Online harassment of Covid scientists

Virologists studying Covid-19 have been subject to online threats. Also, we discuss Covid 鈥檚 origins, anti-Chinese sentiment since the pandemic, and hear from the RRS Discovery.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, scientists studying the virus have become targets of online harassment, and more recently, death threats. Roland speaks to Dr Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan, about her experiences.

Spyros Lytras, PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow, talks Roland through the evolutionary history of the virus that causes Covid-19 and how there isn鈥檛 just one ancestor, but several.

Anti-Asian sentiment has seen a big increase since the pandemic. Dr Qian He, Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University, looked into how US-China relations have influenced how Americans view Chinese today.

And we hear from scientists on board the RRS Discovery, which is currently located near St Helena and Ascension Island, surveying the health of the surrounding ocean. On board, documentary film-maker Lawrence Eagling, talks to Shona Murray, pelagic ecologist from the University of Western Australia, and Gareth Flint, mechanical engineer at British Antarctic Survey, about their work and findings.

(Photo: A scientist stands behind testing kits and checks his phone. Credit: Getty Images)

Producer: Roland Pease
Assistant producer: Sophie Ormiston

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27 minutes

Last on

Sat 19 Nov 2022 17:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 17 Nov 2022 20:32GMT
  • Thu 17 Nov 2022 21:32GMT
  • Fri 18 Nov 2022 04:32GMT
  • Fri 18 Nov 2022 13:32GMT
  • Fri 18 Nov 2022 18:32GMT
  • Sat 19 Nov 2022 17:32GMT

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