美国国家公共电台 NPR--Virologist says COVID origin report could make it harder to study dangerous diseases

Virologist says COVID origin report could make it harder to study dangerous diseases

Transcript¹

NPR's A Martinez talks to virologist Angela Rassmusen, who is pushing back on the Energy Department assessment², described as low confidence, that COVID-19 leaked from a lab in China.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

One of the several government efforts to unravel³ one of those mysteries, COVID-19's origin story, was centered at the Energy Department. That agency's assessment, described as low confidence, was that the coronavirus leaked from a lab in China. Angela Rasmussen is a principal research scientist at the Vaccine⁴ and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan. She says the report could make it harder to study dangerous diseases.

Professor, I checked your Twitter feed moments before we started, and I see a couple of things. You're a fan of pugs, the Seattle Seahawks and you have a pinned tweet to an article that explains why the pandemic began from nature. So I'm assuming you doubt the Energy Department's conclusion. Why?

ANGELA RASMUSSEN: So I doubt the Energy Department's conclusion simply because I haven't seen the evidence. It's been described as low confidence, and I just don't see how something - whatever it is - that is low confidence could really contradict that large pile of scientific evidence that does suggest that the pandemic began at the Huanan Seafood⁵ Market through zoonotic spillover.

MART?NEZ: What evidence would be needed for you to trust their assessment?

RASMUSSEN: Yeah. So I've actually discussed this quite a bit, and I've been thinking a lot about it. And I think that the one thing that would convince me that it did come from a lab would be the intelligence community being able to place what we call a progenitor⁶ virus at any lab in Wuhan, and that would be the virus that existed immediately before becoming SARS coronavirus two. So whether it's from an animal, whether it was naturally collected, whether it was made through molecular⁸ virology work, there is no virus that we know of that is in possession of anybody that was the immediate⁷ precursor⁹ to SARS coronavirus two. If that could be placed in a lab, that would completely change my thinking. That would be evidence of a laboratory origin. But so far, that evidence has not been available. And I really doubt that that is the evidence that the Department of Energy has because, if it were, it would not be a low-confidence finding.

MART?NEZ: Do you allow for any wiggle room for the argument that COVID's origins are unresolved?

RASMUSSEN: I actually don't. And I think that the statement that it is unresolved is really from people who haven't been able to engage thoroughly¹⁰ with the evidence that we do have. So the only evidence that suggests that it might have come from a lab is the fact that the pandemic began in Wuhan, where there happens to be a coronavirus lab. However, there's many cities in China and throughout the rest of the world, including Canada, including the U.S., where there are labs that do this. If it was from a lab, it could have been from any one of those. However, we have a lot of evidence that does suggest that it was from the market.

MART?NEZ: So when you hear these other theories, how does that make you feel as a virologist? Because I could hear it all the time, people saying, well, you're not even open to the possibility that science can change - that these answers maybe evolve.

RASMUSSEN: Yeah, that's probably one of the most frustrating¹¹ aspects of it. So myself and all of my colleagues who authored that paper that you mentioned at the beginning that is the pinned tweet - the paper that really shows the evidence that it did begin at the Huanan Market - I think we're all open to the fact that evidence could emerge that shows that it didn't come from the market - that it came from a lab. And I think every good scientist is going to be open to that. That's literally¹² our job - is to try to make our hypotheses not true, to falsify them - as my colleague says, to kick the tires of those hypotheses and see if they work. And so far, that hypothesis about the market origin has stood up.

I think it's very frustrating to have people assume that we make a decision sort of arbitrarily, and then we stick with that no matter what. I think we're always willing to change our hypotheses should new information come in, and it would be great to see what information the Department of Energy is using to make their decision.

MART?NEZ: Angela Rasmussen is a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan. Thank you very much.

RASMUSSEN: Thank you so much, A.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

3 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

4 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

5 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

6 progenitor   

n.祖先，先驱

参考例句：

• He was also a progenitor of seven presidents of Nicaragua.他也是尼加拉瓜7任总统的祖先。
• Schoenberg was a progenitor of modern music.勋伯格是一位现代音乐的先驱。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

9 precursor   

n.先驱者；前辈；前任；预兆；先兆

参考例句：

• Error is often the precursor of what is correct.错误常常是正确的先导。
• He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.他说该笔交易不应该被看作是合并的前兆。

10 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

11 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。