The Invisible Siege

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This engrossing family history of coronaviruses explores the modern scientific quest to conquer viral epidemics. The urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic has focused attention on our current crisis, but its roots extend much deeper. Epidemiologist Dan Werb traces the rising threat of coronaviruses and the efforts of a dedicated group of scientists who worked for decades to prevent a looming pandemic. Virologist Ralph Baric began his research in the 1980s when the field was largely overlooked, with human-infecting variants causing little more than the common cold. However, the emergence of novel coronaviruses during the 2003 SARS epidemic and the MERS outbreak a decade later highlighted the impending danger of a pandemic strain jumping from animals to humans. Werb unpacks the complex history and microscopic intricacies of this organism, detailing how Baric's team devised a bold plan not only to combat COVID-19 but to eradicate pandemics altogether. As they raced against time, they encountered a complicated web of science, ethics, industry, and politics that threatened to undermine their efforts just as COVID-19 escalated. This narrative serves as a powerful testament to the unprecedented scientific movement aimed at stopping COVID-19 while revealing the challenges that leave the world vulnerable to future coronaviruses.