It all began with a small unnoticed tear in a protective suit. A few days later, a researcher fell ill and then another. Both were placed in isolation. However, the infection soon spread and quickly became an epidemic. A bacterium was identified, but doctors were powerless to fight it. Antibiotics had no effect, nor did any other treatment. The first deaths were recorded, and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency. Then all the animals – cattle, dogs, cats, birds, amphibians – also succumbed to the same disease. Researchers discovered the pathogen in wastewater and retraced the infectious agent's trajectory. Human excrement contaminated the water. Insects were infected in their turn and spread the mysterious disease wherever they landed, not only on animals but also on plants and in soil. The planet now faced a global systemic crisis, and no one knew where it would end.

This apocalyptic scenario isn't the brainchild of a Hollywood screenwriter, but a suggestion by evolutionary microbiologist Vaughn Cooper, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, a biosafety expert and next president of the American Society for Microbiology. It was a warning to the entire scientific community that, along with 37 other leading figures from the world of science, including two Nobel Prize winners, he issued on December 12, 2024, in the journal Science.

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