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 these threats, even as travel, urbanisation and the changing climate make pandemics much more likely. The key will be sustaining those capacities and making sure they are available everywhere.

Global leaders look likely to finally agree an accord on pandemic preparedness in May at the World Health Assembly in Geneva – minus the US, which has withdrawn from the process. An earlier deadline was missed amid wrangling about what poorer countries could expect from richer nations’ pharmaceutical companies in return for access to their data and cooperation.