Biotechnology

Politicisation of knowledge is a serious issue in the debate over the origins of the pandemic

This is a serious matter and there is a lot at stake.

Calls for a national strategy for bioinnovation

To capitalise on opportunities, strengthen our competitiveness internationally and be positioned for biotechnology's ChatGPT moment, we need an ambitious policy for the emerging technology-driven bioeconomy.

Science has not provided good enough answers to the question of the origin of the pandemic

Here politics has become entwined with what should have been open and free research.

Antimicrobial resistance - Taking action on pull incentives in Norway

Antimikrobiell resistens (AMR) er en alvorlig og raskt voksende folkehelsetrussel. I 2022 ble det anslått at AMR førte til 1,27 millioner dødsfall globalt. Dette notatet beskriver en modell som estimerer at det i 2015 gikk tapt minst 240 liv i Norge på grunn av antimikrobiell resistens. Modellen er utarbeidet av Alliance for Reducing Microbial Resistance (ARMoR) med innspill fra tankesmien Langsikt. Utviklingskjeden for antimikrobielle midler har over tid blitt utarmet, og er nå klart utilstrekkelig for å levere medikamentene som trengs for å behandle resistente infeksjoner. En viktig årsak til dette er markedssvikt i legemiddelmarkedet, der dagens insentivstruktur gjør det ulønnsomt å kommersialisere nye antibiotika. ARMoR foreslår en satsing på såkalte pull-insentiver som en del av løsningen på denne markedssvikten.

Should vital health care be put up for auction?

The most important thing we can do to reduce the damage from a new pandemic is to prevent it.

Exploring COVID-19's Controversial Origins

A new pandemic is on the stairs

And it could be much worse than the COVID-19 pandemic.

A lab leak may have started the corona pandemic

The corona pandemic has been the biggest global crisis of our time. It has cost millions of lives, trillions of dollars and inflicted countless other negative consequences on society. The origins of the pandemic remain an unanswered question. In this document, we review the available knowledge. Based on this, we assess it as of June 2024, as most likely that the pandemic was the result of an accident at a research laboratory in Wuhan, not from natural contagion from animals at the wet market close by. We also point out how both the political and scientific system have failed in dealing with the issue and thus stood in the way of designing a knowledge-based preparedness and prevention policy for future pandemics.

Weapons, Plague and Gold - Opportunities and Threats of New Biotechnology

The twin revolutions in biotechnology and artificial intelligence will, in the future, dramatically increase the ability of humans to decode and program genetic code. This gives us the ability to design completely new biological functions and organisms - called synthetic biology. Synthetic biology will, over the next few decades, create trillion-class values and help us solve challenges in climate, animal welfare, food supply, medicine, vaccines, biomaterials and many other areas. At the same time, synthetic biology can have disastrous consequences either as a result of mishaps or intentional damage. In order to harness the enormous benefits that biorevolution can bring us, while avoiding the greatest dangers, we need to develop precise and ambitious policies. Download the memo to read more about this topic. If you would like to read the memo that specifically deals with the origin of the corona pandemic, you can find it here: www.langsikt.no/en/publikasjoner/lablekkasje.