Biosecurity

Modernizing biotechnology for the fight against COVID-19 and the future of pandemic response

As the world scrambles to combat the global pandemic of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we’re witnessing a real-time demonstration of emerging biotechnology’s capabilities — computational tools, biological engineering, and advanced manufacturing are key factors in the fight against COVID-19. The United States should start to accelerate biotechnology in order to combat COVID-19.

The anatomy of an outbreak requires specific response capabilities. First, as people get sick, we need the ability to rapidly and reliably test people and track the spread of the virus. Second, we need treatments and vaccines to remedy the sick and to prevent spread to the uninfected. Ultimately, the ability to rapidly produce and manufacture these technologies at-scale is critical to responding to the pandemic. In these arenas, biotechnology is working to speed up the response.