Last month, the World Health Organization announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swiss government to base the first facility in its BioHub network at a lab in Spiez, Switzerland. The BioHub initiative is intended to facilitate the sharing of pathogen samples among laboratories around the world for research. During its pilot phase, it will only share SARS-CoV-2 variants, but the WHO says it plans to expand to other pathogens next year.
Sylvie Briand, the WHO’s director of Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness, says that BioHub aims to overcome some of the challenges to timely sample-sharing that came with the adoption of the Nagoya Protocol, an international agreement intended to ensure that the benefits arising from genetic resources are shared equitably. The Scientist spoke with Briand about how the BioHub will work.
Sylvie Briand: Some countries, especially countries with a huge biological diversity, wanted to protect their ...
