Vincent Racaniello: Viruses and Vaccines | Lex Fridman Podcast #216

Vincent Racaniello is a virologist, immunologist, and microbiologist at Columbia. He is a co-author of the textbook Principles of Virology and co-host of This Week in Virology podcast. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Privacy: https://privacy.com/lex to get $5 added to your account - Justworks: https://justworks.com - Sun Basket: https://sunbasket.com/lex and use code LEX to get $35 off - The Information: https://theinformation.com/lex to get 75% off first month - Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil EPISODE LINKS: Vincent's Twitter: https://twitter.com/profvrr Vincent's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/vincentracaniello Vincent's Podcast: https://www.microbe.tv/ Vincent's Website: http://www.virology.ws/ Vincent's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/profvrr PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41 OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 3:11 - Microbiology by numbers 8:33 - From bacteria to an organism 16:32 - AlphaFold 2 20:31 - Simulating an evolutionary arms race 45:57 - The most terrifying virus 1:07:41 - SARS-CoV-2 1:22:25 - Coronaviruses and Influenza. What's the difference? 1:28:31 - Vaccines 1:34:29 - Lex on his reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine shot 1:40:25 - Modern vaccines 1:45:25 - How does mRNA vaccine work? 1:48:12 - Are mRNA vaccines safe? 2:14:38 - Lex on trust in authority 2:29:45 - Ivermectin 2:36:26 - Hydroxychloroquine 2:41:08 - Variants and mutations 2:48:06 - Testing 2:56:13 - How does COVID-19 spread? 2:59:24 - Masks 3:07:52 - Bret Weinstein vs Sam Harris 3:11:26 - This Week in Virology 3:21:06 - Advice for young people 3:23:28 - Meaning of life SOCIAL: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman - Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman