Redeploying plant defences
Nature Plants volume 6, page177(2020)
Epidemic diseases are not a new phenomenon, but easy access to transport in the modern world has accelerated their spread. Perhaps some botanical understanding can help slow them down.
The ongoing outbreak of COVID-19, caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, originated in Wuhan city, China, last December. Hitchhiking on the Spring Festival travel season, the rapid and highly infectious virus quickly spread around the country and has become a global problem. Tens of thousands of people, including many medical workers, have been infected, and thousands have died. Due to an incubation period of 14 days or longer, patients can cause multiple infections before symptoms become observable. An effective cure is yet to be developed.
