Stephen Gire, a researcher in Pardis Sabeti's lab at the Broad Institute and Harvard University, describe the widespread prevalence and ancient origins of contagious viruses such as Lassa and Ebola. They suggest a different reason for why we are seeing more of these diseases: we have become better at spotting outbreaks and diagnosing these deadly viruses. In this video, Gire gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what inspired him to create a striking image that accompanied the perspectives piece in Science magazine.