(mouse clicks) (device beeping)
(soft music)
- [Narrator] We are the paradoxical eight,
bipetual, naked, large brain,
long the master of fire,
tools and language, but still trying to understand ourselves
aware that death is inevitable, yet filled with optimism.
We grow up slowly.
We hand down knowledge,
we empathize and deceive
we shape the future from our shared understanding
of the past.
CARTA brings together experts from diverse disciplines
to exchange insights on who we are and how we got here.
An exploration made possible
by the generosity of humans like you.
(upbeat music)
- Good afternoon and welcome.
My name is Pascal Gagneux
and I'm the associate director of CARTA.
Today's virtual CARTA's symposium,
is on the impact of infectious disease
on humans and our origins.
Among the oldest questions
we humans have asked ourselves are,
who are we?
What are we doing here?
Where did we come from?
How did we get here?
And where are we going?
We believe that to have these questions,
where did we come from?
And how did we get here?
Are now ready to be addressed by the scientific method.
This is the focus of the discipline of Anthropology
or the attempt at explaining the origins of humans.
Anthropogeny, critically relies on the collaboration
of scientists across many disciplines,
including the humanities, biological sciences,
engineering, and computing sciences,
physical and chemical sciences, biomedical sciences,
and the social sciences.
CARTA the Center for Academic Research
and Training in Anthropology is a virtual organization
between the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
and UC San Diego.
It is co-directed by Ajit Varki, Fred Gage
and Margaret Schoeninger.
And our mission statement is to explore
and explain the origins of the human phenomenon.
This symposium came about
because of the current pandemic of COVID-19
that continues to impact us all.
Past pandemics have repeatedly affected our ancestors
and certainly affected the biological composition
of the surviving populations.
We humans on the other hand,
have also created institutions and societies
and patterns of behavior that have modified
how infectious disease can affect us.
The triumph of modern medicine via vaccines
and antibiotics has created the illusion
that infectious disease might be a thing of the past.
This pandemic, the current pandemic, however,
reminds us how powerful infectious agents can be.
Today we have the privilege of having a local panel,
a panel of local experts who each study
different infectious agents
and how these interact with the host.
We'd like to express our gratitude
to CARTA's founding sponsor, the G. Harold
and Lila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation of New York
and its executive director Howard Chester.
We also like to give special thanks
to CARTA's major supporters,
Annette C. Merle-Smith, Anonymous and Nissi and Ajit Varki.
We give additional thanks to CARTA's benefactors
and patrons, and we invite all of you
to become a CARTA supporter today.
I'd like to give special thanks to the CARTA staff,
Lindsay Hunter, Kate Kaya, Vishu Nandigan,
Linda Nelson and Jesse Robie.
And the UCSD staff, Rich Wargo,
Michael Weber, and Marci Bretts.
(upbeat music)