“Nothing spreads like fear,” suggests the tagline of Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 pandemic thriller Contagion, which has skyrocketed on the iTunes movie rental chart in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Once it’s jumped into an unfamiliar host, it may mutate and become deadly. To ensure this, the writers and producers ensured that much of the science in the movie was accurate. “We do, in a disease like this, sometimes find an individual who for one reason or another has genetics that are resistant,” explains Dr. Alice Huang, Ph.D., senior faculty associate in biology at Caltech. The movie is about a fictional pandemic of a virus called MEV-1 which kills between 25 to 30 per cent of those infected. The scientific guide to a better Christmas dinner, Effects of Finnish evacuation during second world war visible in DNA, Covid-19 news: Vaccines for new variants could be fast-tracked in UK, People of European descent evolved resistance to TB over 10,000 years. Science Behind the Fiction critiques the science portrayed in popular films and literature. There certainly are plenty of enormously successful science-fiction films that abuse science in the name of drama, like Outbreak and The Day After Tomorrow, but very few Hollywood productions realistically portray the process of science, both its successes and frustrations. “I wanted it to be the result of life on Earth in its most mundane. "Contagion", for example, topped $22.4 million and took the number one spot at the box-office this weekend. Lipkin says today’s scientists have the tools to create a vaccine much faster than ever before – especially if there’s impetus and funding from the government. I’ve been stuck at home for a week after the coronavirus outbreak has halted the world… so I decided to watch Contagion. “I hope that people at least have a realistic expectation of how a virus is spread, how you can reasonably protect against that by hand washing, not touching your face, [and] social quarantining to some extent.”, Huang also hopes that watching Contagion will encourage preparedness rather than panic. A guy who is feeling sick in Tokyo takes public transportation. Sign up to read our regular email newsletters, Contagion was a film released in 2011 about a fictional pandemic of a virus called MEV-1 which kills between 25 and 30 per cent of those it infected. Within five days, she is dead — along with her son — from a mysterious virus that seems to cause rapid and catastrophic brain damage. Meanwhile, other people around the world – in Tokyo, London and Hong Kong – succumb to exactly the same symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia and the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, work nonstop to identify the origin of the disease, create a vaccine and keep the public informed, but not panicked. “They didn’t get it on the first try. Lipkin says today’s scientists have the tools to create a vaccine much faster than ever before – especially if there’s impetus and funding from the government. From its virus-busting consultants to its accurate predictions, this is the untold truth of Contagion. How Contagion got coronavirus right – by the film’s science advisor Professor Ian Lipkin designed every detail of Steven Soderbergh's fictional virus. It turns out to be caused by an interaction between a bat and a pig – a pig that winds up in the kitchen of the Hong Kong casino in which Beth Emhoff spends her last night in town. And he’s touching things. “I think the movie offered a very realistic sense of what you should be afraid of, as opposed to this free-floating anxiety, the idea that no matter where you are, you’re at risk,” says Offit. In these unsettling times, Contagion may seem like a surprising salve. What happens in this sequence is known as a “spillover event,” when a pathogen moves from one species to another. Share This Article Facebook Science writer Mark Plummer explains some of the science behind the movie. In an unforgettable autopsy moment, two horrified medical examiners peer into Beth’s brain after surgically removing the top of her skull. National Science Week provided the perfect opportunity for scientists to view Hollywood blockbuster Contagion and argue over its authenticity. That's an accurate message, that you’ll encounter a lot of failure before success with making vaccines,” Offit says. But in other respects, Contagion’s vaccine is highly plausible — mainly the process of inventing it. Rather than going directly from a bat or bird into a human, most viruses need a “bridge host” to act as a go-between — which, in the case of Contagion, is a pig. One of the film’s less plausible plot elements is just how fast they’re able to develop a vaccine in the film. Once the CDC identifies a weakened live strain of the virus that protects monkeys against the disease – and after CDC scientist Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) follows a brave tradition of making herself the first human test subject – a vaccine somewhat miraculously speeds into mass-production. Throughout history, many deadly viruses have jumped from one species to another – from birds to people, or. While there are many things in the story that bend (or break) the truth, there are also some great moments where the film is educational. A series of carefully focused shots and strategically placed scenes emphasise that everything in the world is a potential vector for the fatal virus: doorknobs, credit cards, empty glasses, napkins, a bowl of peanuts at a bar, airplanes, handshakes, sex. Fact-Checking 'Contagion,' The Movie About A Global Virus Outbreak : Goats and Soda We asked epidemiologists and doctors to assess the science in the 2011 movie, in … After his wife and stepson both succumb to the virus, Damon’s character is put into quarantine, but is ultimately found to be immune. The events in the 2011 movie, Contagion, portray what is likely to happen during a global pandemic. The movie’s exhilarating pace never sags, even in scenes that have the potential to bore people out of their minds: a meeting between an epidemic intelligence service officer (Winslet) and the Minnesota Department of Health, for example. Throughout the film there is the suggestion that the virus might be a bioweapon, but that idea is never validated. In scenes scarily similar to the current Covid-19 pandemic, the St… And he's sorry it's so accurate Contagion. Throughout the film there is the suggestion that the virus. Contagion now available on Netflix follows a race against time to stop an unknown virus that sparks a global pandemic Credit: Warner Bros Is Contagion realistic? While studies put the actual number closer to 15 to 23 times per hour, it's still a lot of face-touching. “The fact that the father was naturally resistant, and found out during the course of things that his daughter was not, was very believable to me.”. “[The virus in Contagion is] absolutely not what we’re dealing with with the coronavirus,” says Coyle. In the film, MEV-1 kills people within days, but in real life the incubation period for Nipah – and many deadly viruses – is more like two weeks. ‘s all-star cast includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Winslet. “We all need to be aware that what is coming is really a very mild disease, for most people. Antibody test results should not be used to diagnose someone with an active infection. As millions become infected worldwide, quarantines are imposed and people grow afraid to go anywhere or interact with anyone. Before long she begins to have seizures and foams at the mouth. You can find all of Bustle’s coverage of coronavirus here. Outside Hollywood’s bubble, it would take many months of testing and brewing – and many more of securing authorisation from health authorities –, to release a viable vaccine for global distribution, of Columbia University, who consulted with Soderbergh during production, says that the pace of, ‘s finale is not as unrealistic as it might seem, Carl Zimmer. Dan Hooper: What happened at the big bang? 10 or 14 days? The film also offers a model of the level of caution viewers should take. But epidemiologist Ian Lipkin of Columbia University, who consulted with Soderbergh during production, says that the pace of Contagion‘s finale is not as unrealistic as it might seem, Carl Zimmer reports in Slate. Yes, more than ever. Those final scenes underscore Contagion‘s dedication to scientific accuracy. Strange Contagion: Inside the Surprising Science of Infectious Behaviors and Viral Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves ... (2011) discusses how recent research in psychology, neuroscience, and sociology points to a new and more accurate conception of human nature. “One could say that not many of them have been infected and we just don't have enough numbers yet, but so far that's standing up and we're seeing it across the board. How accurate are COVID tests? How scientifically accurate is Hollywood film Contagion? Interspecies interactions are a major breeding ground for new terrifying viruses. Life found beneath Antarctic ice sheet 'shouldn't be there'. Directed by Steven Soderbergh – who previously directed Traffic and the remake of Ocean’s Eleven – Contagion‘s all-star cast includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Winslet. But what the movie got wrong was how it portrayed the public health community’s access to critical information about the spread of the disease. Here are some of the aspects of Contagion that are factually accurate: Kate Winslet’s character’s statistical claim that the average person touches their face 2-3,000 times a day The time it takes for scientists to create an effective vaccine (McNamara told BuzzFeed News: “In the film, it … But how realistic is the movie that depicts what life would be like in a disease pandemic, especially in a time Perseverance Mars landing: Will NASA find life? MEV-1, the film’s fictional virus, is modelled upon the bat-borne Nipah virus, which was identified in 1999 when an outbreak caused brain and lung disease in pigs and people in Malaysia.
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