Pandemics, pathogens and being prepared: why the work to identify emerging threats never stops

Kat Lay - TheGuardian - 10:09
As the UK Pandemic Sciences Network conference kicks off in Glasgow, virus expert Prof Emma Thomson says new technologies are boosting science’s ability to fight novel strains of infectious diseases
‘In the past, we used to think pandemics would occur maybe once in our lifetimes. Now, it’s definitely within the next few years,’ says Prof Emma Thomson. Photograph: PA
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‘In the past, we used to think pandemics would occur maybe once in our lifetimes. Now, it’s definitely within the next few years,’ says Prof Emma Thomson. Photograph: PA

Pandemics, pathogens and being prepared: why the work to identify emerging threats never stops

As the UK Pandemic Sciences Network conference kicks off in Glasgow, virus expert Prof Emma Thomson says new technologies are boosting science’s ability to fight novel strains of infectious diseases

Prof Emma Thomson is someone who knows a thing or two about pandemics. As the recently appointed director of the Medical Research Council, University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) and a World Heath Organization consultant, Thomson is one of the country’s leading virus experts.

“We used to think that pandemics would occur maybe once in our lifetimes. Now, it’s definitely within the next few years. It could even be tomorrow,” she says.

But, Thomson says, “amazing” advances in technology, including genetic sequencing, mRNA vaccines and artificial intelligence (AI), are boosting the world’s ability to deal with t...
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