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It鈥檚 not that Davida Margolin had a crystal ball or whatever one might need to predict the future听when she was preparing to teach this semester. It鈥檚 all right there in the science: how a coronavirus can mutate, how it can inflect thousands and thousands of people, starting with one tiny droplet. How quickly it can become a pandemic and spread around the world.

听That information has been included in Margolin鈥檚 teaching of GERMS 101 for several years now, just not听as heightened as this term. She thinks of GERMS as being a course in science literacy. The syllabus describes it in part as exploring germs from varying perspectives: living organisms, human enemies or friends, and as represented in the media. That she and her students are teaching/taking the class remotely this semester provides an ironic underscoring of the subject鈥檚 gravity, one that Margolin was prepared to address.

"Germs are ubiquitous. Whether we know there are 100,000 of them on our phones or not, they鈥檙e still there. Some are harmless, some are not.鈥�

"I had a whole PowerPoint presentation, an entire lecture about coronaviruses ready in January听for听the third, fourth day of class, because my gut said this was going to be a global event,鈥� says Margolin, a lecturer in the department of . 鈥淪o my students were learning about coronavirus ramifications well before it was declared an epidemic and prior to it being called COVID-19.鈥澨�

A virus needs a viable host cell, Margolin instructs students. Without one, there is nowhere for it to go. And if there is nowhere to go, it can鈥檛 spread. Hence, the听recommendations from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control听to stay 6 feet apart, practicing handwashing multiple times a day and wear a mask.听To that end, Margolin has added听a lecture on the protection that masks provide.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult because this whole thing has become political,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 know where I stand, I stand on the side of science, and the science says masks help prevent or reduce the spread.鈥�

To help students visualize that spread, Margolin has them听watch the movie 鈥淐ontagion鈥澨齛t the end of the semester, when they鈥檝e been exposed to different facets of disease transmission and epidemiology. The film is about a virus that is transmitted by respiratory droplets, the rush to identify and contain its spread, and the social chaos that erupts when it becomes a pandemic.

Another exercise in past years had听students using sterile swabs to swipe an area in their homes they thought would be germ-free. They then听brought the swabs back to class and put them in agar plates to see if anything would grow. (Being remote has excluded the exercise this semester).

鈥淎 lot of students tested their washers or dryers, thinking of them as clean surfaces. They were surprised to see the bacteria that was there 鈥擡.coli, strep, and more,鈥� Margolin says. 鈥淕erms are ubiquitous. Whether we know there are 100,000 of them on our phones or not, they鈥檙e still there. Some are harmless, some are not.鈥�

And some cause diseases like rabies that will infect any animal, including humans. Smallpox, on the other hand, is only spread by humans. According to the Center for Disease Control, it is not believed that animals play a role in the spread of COVID-19 despite the assertion that it started in an animal.听

鈥淎s far as I know, they鈥檙e not certain what caused COVID 鈥� a 听bat, a snake or some other animal from a wet market,鈥� Margolin says. 鈥淚n some wet markets, where they are slaughtering all these animals, genetic material starts to mix, resulting in hybridizing. If one of those animals has a virus it can jump听to another animal,听one that has no immunity.鈥�

This is the kind of information that some students find too disturbing, she says, adding that 鈥渢his is what biology is.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the coronavirus. There are other diseases they should know about. Like how STDs spread, how prevalent they are and that you鈥檙e not immune,鈥� Margolin says. 鈥淚 want them to know what can happen, that 80 percent of 18 to 25-year-olds have had or will have the human papillomavirus.鈥�

And that pregnant women shouldn鈥檛 clean a cat litter box because of a parasite that can cause toxoplasmosis. Or that you should never give honey to a baby because it could contain a bacteria that can produce toxins in their听intestines.

鈥淚 try not to scare them, but I want them to know germs are all around them," Margolin says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my job to give them enough information so it jolts them into thinking about the ramifications.鈥�

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