Science asked me to -briefly- reflect on what happened in 2020. So, a thread on this year in science, the breakthroughs and breakdowns and where my head is at at the end of this difficult year.
Story is here:
https://t.co/48EDZj4tbk
First, read @sciencecohen's beautiful, personal story on the vaccines:
“I can stop worrying about my mom dying alone in an intensive care unit, away from all who love her. And she can stop asking whether I’ll let her play mahjong with the
The rapid development of efficacious #covid19 vaccines was clearly the science breakthrough of the year. But what about all the rest that went on in #covid19 science? My story is labeled “breakdown”, but the picture is complicated.
Little of what scientists did to respond to #COVID19 was really new. As @florian_krammer told me “We took out all our fancy tools and applied them to this virus”.
What was new was not WHAT scientists did, but HOW they did it: Research was faster, more collaborative, more open.
@florian_krammer The early diagnostic test from @c_drosten's lab, the @WHO mission report from China showing the virus could indeed be beaten, the collaboration behind the UK’s Recovery trial and the WHO’s Solidarity trial, the preprints being analysed in real time on twitter, ...