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BIO member Ginkgo Bioworks has partnered with the federal government to detect potential bioweapons faster than ever before—thanks to synbio. Plus, the CDC says flu season is already here—and it’s time to catch up on your vaccines. (659 words, 3 minutes, 17 seconds) |
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How cell programming will help detect emerging biothreats |
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Ginkgo Bioworks, a BIO member company, has partnered with the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) to utilize the company’s synthetic biology technology to detect genetically engineered biothreats and bioweapons faster and at scale.
The news: Ginkgo Bioworks, which develops synbio tech “to program cells as easily as we can program computers,” partnered with IARPA, which invests in high-risk research programs for U.S. intelligence, to create “software that will help the U.S. determine when biological organisms, such as viruses, plants, or animals, have been genetically engineered,” reports Bloomberg.
Specifically: “Ginkgo developed an initial set of computational tools called ENDAR (Engineered Nucleotide Detection and Ranking) that assist trained analysts to identify genetic engineering in next-generation sequencing (NGS) datasets,” says the announcement. Draper, a non-profit engineering firm, developed a corresponding platform to detect and I.D. bioengineered samples. It’s the culmination of IARPA’s Finding Engineering-Linked Indicators (FELIX) program, launched in 2018.
Why it’s needed: “Current methods for detecting signs of biological engineering are typically costly, slow, and capable of detecting only a subset of all possible genetic modifications,” says Ginkgo’s announcement.
What they’re saying: “Ginkgo and Draper have achieved two major breakthroughs for the biodetection community,” said IARPA Program Manager David A. Markowitz. “The ability to detect genetic engineering in complex biological samples has long been a moonshot goal, and these new capabilities are poised to transform national biosecurity efforts.” Watch the launch event here.
Listen: Ginkgo Bioworks CEO Jason Kelly joined an early episode of the I am BIO Podcast to talk about his platform and the future of synthetic biology—listen here. |
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More Agriculture and Environment News:
The New York Times: The search is on for mysterious banana ancestors.
“[T]he banana family tree as a whole is even more diverse, and mysterious, than previously thought, according to a study published earlier this month in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.” |
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Flu season is already here – and it’s time to get your flu shot |
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports “early increases in seasonal influenza activity” in most of the U.S. Here’s what you need to know.
The numbers: For the week ending October 8, positive flu tests increased to 3.3% nationwide, reaching as high as 5% in the South Central region and 10% in the Southeast, CDC flu epidemiologist Lynnette Brammer told STAT News.
The trends: What we see in the U.S. (so far) matches what we saw in the Southern Hemisphere, where Australia had an earlier start to the flu season this summer, as Bio.News reported. The dominant strain in Australia and already in the U.S. is the highly communicable H3N2.
But there’s something you can do: get vaccinated. The flu vaccine is the easiest way to protect yourself against the flu’s worst effects, and experts recommend you get the vaccine now.
This year, the big concern is co-circulation—or communities getting hit with influenza and COVID-19 at the same time.
Why it matters: “If someone contracts both COVID-19 and influenza, there is potentially increased risk of hospital visits and outpatient visits, both of which could overwhelm an already strained healthcare system,” Ashesh Gandhi, PharmD, Regional Head of Medical Affairs, Americas, at BIO member CSL Seqirus, told Bio.News. “That’s why it is important for people to get vaccinated with both COVID-19 and flu vaccines.”
Find out where you can get a vaccine at www.vaccines.gov. |
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More Health Care News: Kaiser Family Foundation: Commercialization of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and tests: implications for access and coverage
The expected “depletion” of federally purchased COVID supplies and end to the public health emergency in 2023 “could act as a ‘double whammy’ of sorts, curtailing access to COVID-19 countermeasures.” |
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