Instragram based science (examples)
THE SEWER IS NOT JUST FULL OF SHIT. It's also full of information. A lot of disease-causing microbes are shed in feces and we can look for them in wastewater and get a good idea of what’s out there. Old and new variants of known viruses and bacteria can be detected, and the information can be used as an early warning system to mitigate the spread of infectious disease before it hits our hospitals like COVID did. Wastewater surveillance is being used in the fight against polio and has also been done during the COVID-19 pandemic to show which variants are circulating. However, despite the value of wastewater monitoring, most public health surveillance systems still rely heavily on medical case data. This needs to change so we can be better prepared not if, but when the next threat emerges
THE CURSED DUET.
In the history of TB there was actually a period where humans had the upper hand. In the decades following the discovery of antibiotics cases drastically went down. New scarier diseases properly assumed more attention and TB was outcompeted by another very famous pathogen: HIV. But if you can't beat them join them right? HIV does its' signature move which is to suppress the immune system and then...enter TB! It's the perfect pathogenic partnership. Together they have killed more people than World Wars I and II combined. We need to end TB.
She died a while ago, but you should still see her because her brilliant contributions to this world have been vastly underplayed. Rosalind Franklin studied DNA and obtained one of the most important photos ever: Photo 51. Based on this photo the structure of DNA was determined and that is the basis for... well, pretty much everything we know about life and death on this planet. Sadly, Franklin’s groundbreaking work was completely overshadowed by the work of her male colleagues who received the Nobel prize and whose names will still come up first if you google this matter. If you know names like Einstein, Newton and Darwin then you should also know Franklin.
Rosalind Franklin. Badass female scientist who deserves some hype.
Many people don't realize that Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the biggest infectious killers out there. While the global TB situation has improved in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed that. In many countries, resources have been reallocated from TB to COVID-19, limiting the availability of testing and treatment. For the first time in over a decade, TB deaths have increased. So while TB may not be nominated for the biggest killer this year, he’s getting stronger and we need equitable use of resources to end this disease.
Drug-resistant bacteria are one of the biggest threats to global health. Tuberculosis is no exception. Over the years, misuse, overuse and insufficient use of antibiotics has taught TB how to survive and get stronger. The result is extensively drug resistant strains of TB (XDR-TB). These types of infections require longer treatments with more expensive drugs often not available to the people who need them. TB is surviving, spreading, and learning how to tolerate more drugs. We need to end TB.