Ginkgo Bioworks, ILRI enter MoU to collaborate on pandemic surveillance work

Ginkgo Bioworks and the International Livestock Research Institute, an organization on One Health approaches, announced that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the intent to collaborate on pandemic surveillance work. ILRI plans to work closely with Ginkgo’s biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, to identify and mitigate pathogens and diseases that originate in animals and livestock. As part of this agreement, Concentric and ILRI/CGIAR aim to develop a joint biosurveillance and pathogen testing program. They will begin with a pilot phase designed to utilize wastewater testing focused on key pathogens and antimicrobial resistant genes through passive monitoring systems beginning in Nairobi, Kenya.