11 February
Adrian Saville, the founder and CEO of Cannon Asset Managers, retweeted an article on the Covid-19 crisis, with genomic surveillance appearing to offer a way out of it.
Francis deSouza, an economist, argues that continuous genetic monitoring of viruses and mutations can tackle the Covid-19 crisis and also prevent another pandemic.
He writes that a similar revolution, like that of cybersecurity surveillance, needs to happen.
Therefore, a global Bio Force comprising private and government partnerships needs to be created to tackle the growing SARS-CoV-2 virus mutations, as well as to protect the world from future pandemics, bioterrorism, antimicrobial resistance, and others.
An effective Bio Force will collaborate with countries, research institutes, companies, and international bodies, to advance the genomics sector.
The need is urgent, and while whole genome sequencing of pathogens is rapid, scalable, and cost-effective, it can be used as a radar to spot viral threats, experts opine.
