One month after people started becoming ill with Covid-19, the 30,000 nucleotide genome of the virus had been identified, sorted, and digitally mapped. A new type of vaccine, based on mRNA molecules and technologies, was rapidly developed - a pivotal defence against Covid-19. New mutant viruses have been met with LEGO-like "plug and play" approaches.
Without decades of long-term basic research, this would not have been possible.
The quote is by Dr. Stanley Plotkin, from TIME Magazine's article 2021 Heroes of the year: The miracle workers. It tells the story of the many struggles and efforts of researchers who have worked tirelessly with mRNA as a basis for vaccines for many decades. It is a tale of progress and setbacks, of rejections of applications for funding, and of breakthroughs. The article identifies the intensity, impatience and dedication that characterise many of the best researchers and research communities: "A sense of urgency". This is but one of many examples illustrating the importance of long-term basic research. Out of such research comes the knowledge we need when a crisis we have not anticipated suddenly hits us.
Faced with the pandemic, research-based knowledge has formed an important part of our preparedness and mitigation. Science will prove just as vital when the next crisis strikes. Therefore, society must invest in research, not the least in research that may seem less relevant in contemporary society. Neither politicians nor research leaders / bureaucrats can predict what knowledge we will come to need in the longer run. We were "lucky" with the virus. We already knew a lot about it. We could have been struck by something completely new to us. T
