The proteomics contribution to the counter-bioterrorism toolbox in the post-COVID-19 era.

Armengaud, Jean

Biological agents, or live pathogens, could represent unconventional weapons. Luckily, CBRNE counter-terrorism experts can rely on an extended toolbox of next-generation technologies to detect them and minimize their impact. However, the Black Swan Theory, which considers an extremely improbable event which would have a disproportionately large impact, may apply to biological threats. This scenario is possible because some living organisms have an amazing capacity for amplification, and propensity to spread, while also having drastic effects. The etiological agent responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 virus, has shown how pernicious and damaging sarbecoviruses can be. In the post-COVID-19 era, we must re-assess biological risks without compromise, taking into account the three grey swan coronavirus known outbreaks and the most recent societal changes. Proteomics has important roles to play in improving and accelerating detection of pathogens and their potential resistance to current treatments, determining their source as quickly as possible, stratifying patients to improve therapeutic interventions, investigating new drug or vaccine therapies, characterizing pathogen reservoirs, and improving predictive epidemiological models. It thus constitutes an essential element in the counter-terrorism toolbox to deal with biological threats as developed hereafter.