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A crucial step in preventing the next global pandemic will be knowing where this one came from. Did SARS-CoV-2\\u2014 the virus that causes Covid-19\\u2014 jump from animals to humans, or was the outbreak the result of a lab leak? The world still doesn\\u2019t know the answer.  

This episode is part two of our wide-ranging interview with Alina Chan, a postdoctoral scientist who co-wrote an explosive online paper in May 2020. She argued that scientists and governments should investigate whether a virus from a laboratory in Wuhan, China caused the pandemic.

\\u201cIt\'s not about holding one country accountable, because we are all accountable for this,\\u201d Alina tells us. \\u201cWe\'re all in this together.\\u201d

In this episode, we discuss the need for much greater transparency when viral outbreaks occur. The world needs to adopt new policies and strategies to prevent or mitigate future outbreaks. Proposed solutions include: more regulation of scientific experiments\\u2014 including \\u201cgain of function\\u201d research, better lab safety standards, greater international oversight of groups that study how viruses cross species barriers, and a global treaty governing viral research.

Alina Chan co-wrote \\u201cViral\\u201d with British science writer Matt Ridley. \\u201cUnfortunately, there are no enforceable international biosafety and biosecurity standards,\\u201d they write. Their newly-published book has prompted further controversy and pushback from some well-known scientists. We think a full airing of the questions raised by Dr. Chan\\u2019s research is central to our mission at \\u201cHow Do We Fix It?\\u201d

Recommendation: Jim is reading "In the Heart of The Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex\\u201d, by history writer Nathaniel Philbrick. The book won the 2000 National Book Award for Nonfiction. The Essex sank after a sperm whale attacked it in the Pacific Ocean in 1820. 

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