Virologist Wendy Barclay: ‘Wild avian viruses are mixing up their genetics all the time. It’s like viral sex on steroids’

The British scientist on the risk of humans contracting bird flu, how people would cope with new lockdowns and being asked to pour the tea because she is a woman

Wendy Barclay is a leading British virologist and head of the department of infectious disease and the Action Medical Research chair in virology at Imperial College London. An expert on the pathogenesis and transmissibility of influenza viruses, she served on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) during the Covid-19 pandemic, providing advice on the risks posed by the coronavirus and appropriate medical countermeasures.

What prompted you to study virology?
After I graduated from Cambridge with a degree in natural sciences I thought I might get a job with a pharmaceutical company. Then I saw that the Common Cold Unit in Salisbury was looking for a PhD to work on rhinoviruses, the viruses that cause the common cold. I hadn't studied viruses before, but that same year - 1988 - the first crystal structure of a virus was published and it was a rhinovirus. The Common Cold Unit was a steep learning curve.