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The response to two epidemics, SARS and coronavirus, starkly highlights how far biotech and global collaborations have evolved in the past two decades. //
It’s impossible not to draw parallels between SARS and the new coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19, that’s been ravaging China and spreading globally. Yet the response to the two epidemics also starkly highlights how far biotech and global collaborations have evolved in the past two decades. Advances in genetic sequencing technologies, synthetic biology, and open science are reshaping how we deal with potential global pandemics. //
The response to COVID-19 was extremely rapid. Within a month of the first identified case in Wuhan, Chinese scientists had deposited the virus’s partial genetic blueprint into GenBank, an online, widely-consulted database.
Almost immediately, scientists from all sectors—academic, biotech, government—around the world began ordering parts of the virus genome online to study in their own labs.
The rise of commercial companies that manufacture custom-made DNA molecules, such as Integrated DNA Technology (IDT) and Biobasic, exemplify how much genetic synthesis has changed from 2003 to 2020. Costs for making entire genomes from scratch have dropped dramatically, giving rise to a booming industry of mail-order virus (and other organisms) parts for cheap. Biobasic, for example, offers “primers” that amplify certain parts of COVID-19 genes at a few bucks apiece. These raw genetic tools, rapidly synthesized and purified to order, form a critical ingredient for scientists to recreate important parts of the virus in their own labs.
Rapid sharing of the viral genome plus easy online ordering make it much easier for scientists to study the bug and test potential vaccines. According to a CBS8 report, Inovio, a biotech company based in San Diego, has already created a potential vaccine for COVID-19 and tested it in mice and guinea pigs. If they gain FDA approval, clinical trials in humans could begin as early as this summer. Sanofi, Moderna, and other pharmaceutical giants are right on Inovio’s tail. In contrast, a vaccine for SARS took about 20 months to engineer, long after the epidemic had burned out.
