About 20 percent of the genetic information in your nose doesn't match anything that we've ever seen before.

About 20 percent of the genetic information in your nose doesn't match anything that we've ever seen before.

We know there are certain types of viruses that are nasty - influenza, for instance, is an area that is not a blindside. But a lot of viruses have come out of nowhere, like H.I.V., or to a certain extent SARS. Because we know we have the potential to be blindsided, we really have to investigate the unknowns.

Many people on our planet right now despair; they think we’ve reached a point where we’ve discovered most of the things. I’m going tell you right now: Please don’t despair.

If you find diseases before they've really emerged, you can control them early on, before you get a major epidemic.

The features of globalization have huge consequences on pandemics. It just connects us so much more closely... And as a consequence, every one of these viruses that passes from animals to humans has the capacity to infect all of us.

Don't assume that what we currently think is out there is the full story. Go after the dark matter, in whatever field you choose to explore.