The video discusses the history and impact of
1. In the 1970s, thousands of chicken heads rained from the sky in Europe, causing confusion and happiness among foxes and other wildlife.
2. The chicken heads were filled with a vaccine designed to fight the deadliest virus known to humanity, a rabies epidemic that had been sweeping across wildlife populations in Europe.
3. Rabies is named after Lissa, the ancient Greek spirit of mad rage, and has been haunting us for at least 4,000 years.
4. Lissa can turn animals into angry beasts and humans into zombies that fear water.
5. The Lissavirus, the virus behind rabies, is simple even for a virus. It has only five genes, which are the instructions for five proteins.
6. The Lissavirus uses one of its proteins to hijack a specialized delivery system, the dyn motors, which are actual motors that use energy to deliver packages.
7. The virus starts its journey with a bite, most likely by a dog carrying millions of viruses in its saliva.
8. The goal of the Lissavirus is to infect the neurons, which are living electrochemical wires transferring signals throughout your body.
9. The Lissavirus uses one of its proteins to hijack the dyn motors and order them to head for the nucleus.
10. The immune system usually does not prevent the Lissavirus from reaching the nucleus.
11. When a virus attacks your civilian cells, they release hundreds of thousands of a special family of proteins, the interferons, which interfere with viruses.
12. The Lissavirus, however, uses one of its proteins to make infected neurons express an order to commit suicide.
13. Once the Lissavirus reaches the stem, the host is going to die.
14. The virus then begins to leave, traveling through neurons and migrating away from the brain towards the salivary glands.
15. The virus ends up saturating your saliva, ready for the irate mammal to bite another and repeat the cycle.
16. Rabies is one of the deadliest viruses known to humanity, killing around 60,000 people each year, almost half of them children.
17. There is a vaccine for rabies, which prepares your immune system for a future attack.
18. The vaccine can be given after exposure, so you can still be vaccinated after you've been bitten by an animal.
19. Rabies is a monster that has followed our species around for thousands of years, killing around 60,000 people each year, almost half of them children.
20. There is an interactive course with hands-on lessons to guide you through some of the concepts of rabies.