Realizations about Planetary Health In The Times Of COVID-19
Melody Wu, Planetary Health Campus Ambassador
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Our choices guide our daily lives and human society, but it is our planet that reacts to those choices in maintaining the balance needed to sustain life and our planetary community. This has never been clearer than now with a worldwide pandemic and the world impatiently waiting for a vaccine to be successfully developed as nature, with a virus, and with other environmental impacts reacting to humanity. Sometimes we wonder, are we — humanity — the virus of the planet, struggling to survive as our planet struggles to get rid of us in order to maintain its health? Or are we like the microbiome of our planet, a necessary part that must be properly maintained, controlled, and also must work symbiotically with the body? I hope it’s the latter — although with our past history and decisions it certainly seems like we are a virus on this planet rather than a microbiome that works to maintain the planet’s health.
Human connection to the environment is essential
Being stuck in quarantine for the last four months has certainly brought a lot of time for reflection and realizations about the world we live in. If there’s anything I’ve learned it’s not only how connected we are as humanity and how we crave that connection, but also how much we depend on the air we breathe, the communities we live in and the environments we are surrounded by in order to live, eat, drink, and interact. Our connection with the environment is somewhat hidden when we are at home surrounded by technology, but in reality — the human-environment connection is everywhere, from the ants that crawl through the nooks and crannies of our houses, to the electricity for our houses, to the plants that are used in the food we eat. In our daily lives, it may seem difficult to see planetary health, so we look to communities to see that connection: we see communities that are impacted by fires and drought, which threaten food security and water security (Australian bushfires — UN Environment, Natural Disasters — Planetary Health Alliance); we see communities that are impacted disproportionately by air and water pollution due to human society threatening their health, livelihood, and human rights (COVID-19 shines light on Navajo water contamination — NIH, Water Crisis Research Center, Water Scarcity — Planetary Health Alliance); we see communities that are impacted by rising sea levels and forest destruction and how it threatens their homes (Climate Change — Planetary Health Alliance, Climate displacement in Bangladesh — Environmental Justice Foundation). But planetary health does exist in our daily lives, and sometimes it’s in our own backyards. Even in the most privileged, developed countries — it impacts our daily lives. But it’s not until we recognize this, that we can move forward on addressing how we can address the challenges before us as not isolated community planetary health challenges, but challenges that we all face in varying degrees and we all need to confront in our daily lives as well. We need to work to further understand how we can respond and symbiotically work with our environment as a community of many other planetary communities.
Planetary Health Webinars — adaptation to the online experience during COVID-19
Living virtually for these past few months has shown us what technology is capable of but also what it still has not achieved and has a long way to go. With the online format, we are able to open up webinars to more of the world that wouldn’t have been as common before, and we definitely have thought more about access to conferences and knowledge as an essential component that can be addressed through the online format. Certainly, it was easier to pull together a webinar and not have to worry about feeding the speakers and audience decent food and to make sure there are enough seats available for the people and that a place was reserved, but the interaction and gravity that you get with an in-person experience certainly isn’t captured through a rectangle on Zoom. In two weeks, I pulled together a panel webinar about planetary health, infectious disease, and COVID-19 for around 40 people from my school including interested incoming freshmen — something I would never have imagined for a typical panel or event, even with the access we have to MIT professors and renowned experts in the fields of interest.
However, even with this ability to hold webinars online, something is still missing. I don’t think we are at the point where going to Zoom webinars will be able to replace the full experience of going to a conference and being able to network with people before and after the events. I think the multitude of webinars that have popped up has certainly increased and I definitely am able to find the ability to go as well. It’s definitely something I envision many events continuing to include for participants into the future. I am curious to see how improvement of video conferencing technology can help planetary health as it has helped healthcare through telehealth. I can see how it will enable us to bring more people to the table in these conversations from all over the world while also being in a more sustainable format than flying people to one particular place — but it still has a long way to go.
Technology can both be the savior of planetary health but also a detriment
Technology — it’s certainly made quarantine much better than it would have been without it. But, it can’t replace our connection beyond the computer and screen fatigue is definitely a real feeling. While technology has allowed us to reduce how much we travel in some ways, being so reliant on technology means we may prioritize it over other aspects of our own being and our own environment and planet. I hope we don’t get to that point and we find ways to integrate technology with our planet’s health. As with the creation of any new technology, it will be fueled by resources from our environment, and it will impact communities as it has for those communities who have pipelines running through their communities used to fuel technologies like cars and other machines but also poisoning the air they breathe and the water they use, communities whose livelihoods are destroyed by the destruction of forests nearby, communities who live near factories building the technologies that they cannot see. How can technology adapt with environmental change and help move humanity forward for the better? As someone studying at a school for technology, I hope we have better answers to that — particularly at the intersection of planetary health and technology.
Synthetic biology for planetary health — what’s possible?
As a bioengineer, I’m really curious about the field of synthetic biology and how it will develop to support planetary health. I certainly think it will be used to fight infectious diseases like this current pandemic — be it in the form of testing tools or development of therapeutics or vaccines along with the fields of immunoengineering, chemical biology, and others. But I also think it will be essential in the development of biodegradable plastics, alternative fuels and energy, other forms of lighting inspired by nature and synthesized by genes that we piece together in genetic circuits. As someone always curious about the intersection of fields and technologies, I’m curious how this field will grow with planetary health. My hope is to bridge two of my worlds: that of my synthetic biology, bioengineering, iGEM side and that of my interest in human health, environmental health, and what we call planetary health — into something that will open my eyes to new innovations, realizations, and symbiosis. I’m not quite sure what this will mean exactly, but already I can see it happening when I’m thinking about the ways in which we have synthesized sustainable pharmaceutical alternatives (LAL and rFC — Horseshoe Crab synthetic alternative) but also in finding ways to protect the biodiversity of our planet (Projects From Revive & Restore). In addition, there are ways that synthetic biology can create sustainable alternatives to plastic (highly used in various health and other industries) and in better ensuring food security (iGEM and the Environment).
Voice of communities — what’s needed in the planetary health conversation
Like many systemic issues, it’s going to be difficult in making the substantial changes necessary to address planetary health and the long-term investment. At the same time, I question, as with any work that involves people or is for people or involves communities, how much are communities included in the conversation? Who are the people at the table — are we the people who simply have the privilege of not being as heavily impacted and have the education, background and time? If so, that’s okay, but how are we ensuring that the solutions we are proposing and the studies we are doing actually represent communities’ voices and how can we also talk about our own communities and our own struggles with planetary health issues when we go about these as well? The planetary health conversation shouldn’t just include people who have the time, energy, knowledge, and ability to fight — it should also include the people who are experiencing it’s daily connection to their daily lives. It’s also a conversation that all communities on the planet should be able to participate in.
