Resisting & Adapting to Infectious Diseases to Prevent Future Pandemics

Understanding the science behind infectious disease R&D, and what interventions are being implemented to potentially prevent future pandemics caused by emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19

Stephan Baumann, Infectious Disease Segment Manager, Agilent Technologies, USA

For over a year the world has been battling the newly emerged infectious disease: the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 disease. With over 4.1 million deaths globally (as of July 27, 2021), the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc within communities and triggered significant disruptions to the way we live, work, and socialise.

Across the Asia Pacific region, many countries continue to resist the impact of the pandemic and look to protect their citizens. India now has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world - reporting over 400,000 daily cases at its peak for several days in May 2021. Several other countries in the region have seen the reemergence of COVID-19 clusters, with particular concern around newly emerging COVID-19 variants across the world. Singapore also recently saw the emergence of new clusters and subsequent increase in cases, prompting the government to reimpose stricter guidelines on social gatherings to help prevent further spread of transmission.

As the world continues resisting and adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic, academics and research scientists are looking to provide solutions to some of the unanswered questions about the causal SARS- CoV-2 virus. There are multiple research areas to investigate: the genetic make-up of the virus, its molecular structure, and the development of targeted therapeutics and preventative medicines – e.g., vaccines – to help eradicate the virus. In particular, one key focus within the research community has been the so-called “spike protein”.

Understanding the spike protein