Data without borders: sharing information ‘is key’ in race to track down deadly viruses

Major challenge in coronavirus response is to ensure that vaccines and treatments are safe and effective, researcher says

Advances in genetics and linked international web of laboratories could be ‘the safety net of the future’

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David Ho is a prominent HIV/Aids researcher who has turned his attention to developing vaccines for the new coronavirus. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:00pm, 18 May 2020Updated: 11:44pm, 18 May 2020

It is essential to have a big international network of genetic laboratories sharing information so that viruses can be identified rapidly, a leading scientist has said, as the world races to find a way to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Paul Kellam, from Imperial College London, offered the assessment on Monday in an online panel discussion on the latest advances in treating Covid-19 and vaccine development.

The event, organised by the Jack Ma and Alibaba foundations and Alibaba Health, also included New York-based David Ho, a researcher known for championing treatments that have turned Aids into a largely manageable chronic disease, and Sharon Lewin from the Peter Doherty Institute in Australia.

Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Kellam, a professor of virus genomics, said it had been encouraging to see the proactive sharing of virus generic sequences from many countries, and this was key to helping predict the severity among patients with Sars-CoV-2, the official name for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.