Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 451B Stemmler Hall, 3450 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Pathog Dis. 2022 Nov 2;80(1). doi: 10.1093/femspd/ftac034.
Viruses and hosts must navigate environments in which each tries to outcompete the other for survival or to coexist within the same spaces. In Lewis Carrol's Through the Looking Glass, the Red Queen tells Alice, "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" Borrowing from this idea, the Red Queen hypothesis asserts that organisms, such as viruses, must continuously adapt to environmental pressures to survive. In this commentary, we draw parallels between the Red Queen hypothesis and the experiences scientists of color navigate to thrive in academic spaces. In both phenomena, adapting to environmental pressures is necessary for survival. We identify the various pressures and bottlenecks faced by historically underrepresented groups in academia, as well as the adaptation strategies they must implement to persist in academia.
病毒和宿主必须在环境中进行竞争，以争取生存或在同一空间中共存。在刘易斯·卡罗尔的《镜中奇遇记》中，红皇后告诉爱丽丝：“在这里，你看，你必须竭尽全力奔跑，才能保持在原地不动。如果你想到别的地方去，你必须跑得比现在快两倍才行！”借用这个想法，红皇后假说断言，生物体，如病毒，必须不断适应环境压力才能生存。在这篇评论中，我们将红皇后假说与有色人种科学家在学术领域中茁壮成长所经历的事情进行了类比。在这两种现象中，适应环境压力是生存的必要条件。我们确定了学术界中历史上代表性不足的群体所面临的各种压力和瓶颈，以及他们必须实施的适应策略，以在学术界中坚持下去。
