Learn about how we make vaccines to fight viruses like the coronavirus, with help from Julia Schaletzky, Executive Director of the Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases at UC Berkeley. You’ll also learn about the weird history behind why we call steak “beef” and not “cow.”
Learn about how we make vaccines to fight viruses like the coronavirus, with help from Julia Schaletzky, Executive Director of the Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases at UC Berkeley. You’ll also learn about the weird history behind why we call steak “beef” and not “cow.”
Additional resources from Dr. Julia Schaletzky, Executive Director of the Henry Wheeler Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases at University of California, Berkeley:
The Norman Conquest Is Why Steak Is "Beef" and Not "Cow" by Ashley Hamer
https://curiosity.com/topics/the-norman-conquest-is-why-steak-is-beef-and-not-cow-curiosity
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/how-a-coronavirus-vaccine-might-work-w-dr-julia-schaletzky-and-why-we-call-steak-beef-and-not-cow
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about how we make vaccines to fight viruses like COVID-19, with help from Julia Schaletzky, Executive Director of the Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases at UC Berkeley. You’ll also learn about the weird history behind why we call steak “beef” and not “cow.”
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
How do viruses infect us, and how can vaccines help? We thought now might be a good time to tackle the science on this podcast, since pretty much everyone on the planet is hoping for a COVID-19 vaccine right about now. So we got in touch with Dr. Julia Schaletzky. She’s the Executive Director of the Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases, the Drug Discovery Center, and the Immunotherapy and Vaccine Research Institute at UC Berkeley. Here’s Dr. Schaletzky on how coronavirus infects us in the first place.
[CLIP 1:51]
ASHLEY: So, to summarize: the virus’s “key” is one of the spikes that protrude from its surface, literally called “spike proteins.” The “lock” it opens is a receptor called ACE-2 that coats the outside of human cells. Once the key opens that lock, the virus gets inside the cell and makes lots of copies of itself. The virus contains RNA that’s basically a blueprint for making those copies, but it still needs a host to actually build them. That’s why it needs to use human cells to reproduce. Now let’s get into vaccines.
[CLIP 4:22]
There’s a third type of vaccine that’s actually in clinical trials right now, called mRNA vaccines. They’re very similar to the vaccine Julia was just talking about, only instead of injecting you with the protein itself, you get injected with messenger RNA that contains a genetic “blueprint” so your body can produce the proteins by itself. Regardless of which vaccine we develop, the next step is to perform clinical trials to make sure the vaccines are safe. If you want to learn more about that, then you can hear our full uncut conversation with Dr. Schaletzky in a special episode we’re releasing this weekend. In the meantime, check back tomorrow to hear more from our conversation as we get into the challenges of testing people for the coronavirus.
If you've ever wondered why we call meat things like beef, pork, mutton, and venison instead of cow, pig, sheep, and deer, you can thank the lousy communication skills of a long-dead Anglo-Saxon king. His communication, or lack thereof, set in motion a whole series of invasions, culminating in the French invasion of the English language. Here’s a history lesson you can really sink your teeth into.
King Edward The Confessor died on January 5, 1066, and as he had no children, his brother-in-law Harold Godwin was quickly elected to succeed him as King of England. Problem was, King Edward had apparently forgotten to tell anyone that he promised the throne to his first cousin once removed: William, Duke of Normandy. William, understandably, wasn’t happy.
Neither was the new King Harold's brother Tostig, who thought he deserved the throne. He allied with the King of Norway to battle King Harold's armies, but was eventually defeated. Unfortunately, those battles still weakened Harold's victorious army, and that made it easier for the Norman armies of Duke William — remember, King Edward’s first cousin once removed who was promised the throne? — for his armies to invade and defeat the Anglo-Saxons for good, earning William the nickname William the Conqueror. On Christmas Day in 1066, William was crowned King of England, and the Normans made themselves at home.
And that’s when the language invasion began. The Normans spoke French. Their newly conquered subjects spoke English. Over time, the Normans bequeathed more than 10,000 words to English, and since they were the ruling class, most of these referred to posh topics like nobility — think crown, castle, and sovereign — government and law — city, parliament, and justice, prison — and “high living” words about things like cuisine: banquet, herb, roast, and biscuit.
So while humble farmers kept calling their animals cows, swine, and sheep, once those animals were put on a fancy plate their names became French. The Old French word for cow? Buef. The French word for pig? Porc. French for sheep? Mouton. Sound familiar?
ASHLEY: Let’s do a quick recap of what we learned today
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Today’s episode was scripted and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Today’s episode was also scripted and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!