WEBVTT

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>> Sally: What are you working on?

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>> Dude: I've got a great new idea.

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I'm going to make cocoa beans
that reproduce as fast as viruses.

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That way, we'll have enough cocoa beans
to make as much chocolate as we want!

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>> Sally: You know how much I like chocolate!

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Explain your project a little more.

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How are you going to engineer this yummy idea?

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>> Dude: Well viruses reproduce really
fast so I thought I could take that part

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from a virus and put it into a cocoa plant.

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>> Sally: Plants are pretty safe to
work with but viruses can be dangerous.

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Which virus were you thinking about using?

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>> Dude: Well I read that Ebola
virus has a short sequence that...

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>> Sally: ...EBOLA!?!

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Ebola is a bio-safety level FOUR agent.

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>> Dude: Well the worst are level
five, so I thought it was safe enough.

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>> Sally: Level five?

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There is no bio-safety level five.

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You'd need lots and lots of training to
work in any level three or four facility...

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...and you'd have to wait a few years
since they don't let minors in those labs.

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>> Dude: DD: But there was
this show I saw on TV where...

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>> Sally: What you see on TV and
in movies can be very deceiving.

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But let's talk about all the bio-safety levels.

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If we're going to make your viral cocoa
beans, we need to come up with a way

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that keeps everyone safe,
inside the lab and outside too.

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>> Dude: OK.

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I do know that biosafety is a combination
of safe lab practices and techniques,

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wearing the right safety equipment, and working
in a lab designed to contain the experiment.

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But with biosafety level
1 that just means a room

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with screened windows and a door that closes.

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That doesn't sound like much.

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>> Sally: That's because BL1 experiments
use only well-characterized microbes

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that don't make a healthy person sick.

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But remember, there's no
eating or drinking in the lab

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since you wouldn't want to eat your experiments.

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>> Dude: When do I get to
wear a lab coat like yours?

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>> Sally: If you're working at biosafety level
2, you'll have to wear it, and gloves, too,

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since some BL2 agents can be infectious.

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BL2 labs have impervious benches and most of
the work is done in biological safety cabinets.

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Lots of BL2 workers also get immunizations
if they'll be working with certain agents.

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>> Dude: I hate getting shots.

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>> Sally: Well, not all level
2 agents require immunizations.

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Really, the rules for BL1
and BL2 are pretty basic

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because the agents have minimal
risk associated with them.

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But let's think for a minute
about what biosafety you'd need

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for your mash-up of a virus with a cocoa plant.

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>> Dude: Well maybe more protective clothes,
like the workers in bio-safety level 3 labs.

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They wear full suits and
maybe masks or something.

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It's nothing I can't handle.

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Imagine me in a space suit!

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Very cool!

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And think about how much chocolate we'll have!

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>> Sally: Earth to Dude!

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Level three agents are very serious, potentially
lethal, and level four agents, like Ebola virus,

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have such a high lethal risk
that there are only a few places

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in the world where they are studied.

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Restrictions for working with
these agents are very tight.

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Everything entering or leaving BL3
and BL4 labs has to be decontaminated.

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Sometimes the lab has to be in its
own building to control foot traffic.

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I know I don't want to work where there
are double door entries and airlock rooms.

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>> Dude: I think that sounds like fun...

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>> Sally: ...If you are so excited
about the protective clothing,

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we can always be overly cautious
in a level 1 or 2 facility.

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But can't we find another
way to make more cocoa beans?

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>> Dude: OK.

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>> Sally: Maybe we can find another
virus that's not so dangerous

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and we can keep working on your chocolate idea.

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Let's start looking in here.