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2020 Sucked, But We Also Made Some Astounding Scientific Progress
In a year of lows, it’s important to remember the highs
In a recent conversation about the year in science, a colleague made the inevitable joke: “There was this little thing called the coronavirus…” Grim, but impossible not to smirk: Ten, twenty years from now, when we look back on this moment in science, we will remember Covid-19 and the maddening dash to understand it.
But now and in the future, it will be important to remember that the dominant narrative of 2020 was in fact a culmination of science stories we’ve been aware of — and complicit in — for a long time.
Humans have been well aware of their destructive tendencies for millennia — this year, our relentless march into the habitats of wild animals created the conditions that scientists have long warned would allow a zoonotic disease to spread. A disproportionate number of Americans who died from Covid-19 in the U.S. were Black or other people of color, a result of the racist healthcare access and geographical redlining that is part of this country’s dark legacy. Now, as two vaccines roll out across the nation, we face the consequences of mounting mistrust in public health and government: hesitation, in many cases warranted, to receive vaccines that scientists have vetted as safe and…
