ABOVE: Scanning electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2 (yellow) emerging from the surface of human cells (pink) cultured in the lab. WIKIMEDIA, NIAID ROCKY MOUNTAIN LABORATORIES (RML), US NIH
When Emma Hodcroft read that, seemingly out of nowhere, a rash of cases of the novel coronavirus had popped up in Britain in late January, she started collecting media reports on them, searching the articles for clues as to how it had moved to the island nation. Early reports suggested that a lone traveler from Singapore, who was unaware he was infected with virus, had visited a French chalet for a few days and had spread the virus to others at the ski resort. This intrigued Hodcroft, who is half British and a postdoctoral researcher in evolutionary biologist Richard Neher’s lab at the University of Basel in Switzerland, where she uses genetics to study and track diseases. She took notes on the ...
