They are, in a phrase attributed to the Medawars, a husband-and-wife team of biologists, “bad news wrapped in protein.” They float around in nature, usually doing little harm. The problem comes when pathogens leap unnaturally from animals to humans and manage to become an infectious presence in the human world. Because of the way humans have organised our world, we are convinced that we can only grow at the expense of nature. We have been using advanced technology to attack nature; and using advanced technology to move ourselves around the world quickly and cheaply. Are we protectors of nature, or its destroyers?”I was appealing to our sense of nobility as a species.

Source: Daily Nation July 18, 2020 20:45 UTC