Good Day BIO: Biotech is helping to conserve biodiversity

Yesterday was World Biodiversity Day—and we take a look at how biotech may help us achieve many of our biodiversity goals. Plus, routine vaccinations are down, measles cases are up—and an emerging cases of a long-forgotten disease are reminding us of the importance of catching up on shots. (498 words, 2 minutes, 29 seconds)

Biodiversity? We've got biotech for that.

We celebrated World Biodiversity Day yesterday—a day to raise awareness of the urgent need to conserve biodiversity, and the ways in which biotechnology is already helping.

The context: “The world is running two years behind schedule to finalize a new global framework on biodiversity conservation,” reports Nature, as COVID-19 delayed the Conference of Parties (COP) on Biological Diversity. The meeting is currently rescheduled for October in Kunming, China.

What they’re saying: “The longer we wait, the more diversity is lost,” said conservation biologist Alice Hughes in Nature.

The biotech industry’s already on it—developing tools to help farmers protect and enhance biodiversity by growing more with less, explains CropLife International.

Biotech tools can help deliver on key “transitions to sustainable pathways,”says a recent CropLife International report—such as gene editing to allow crops to withstand pests and disease, grow with fewer inputs, and last longer, animal feed that reduces emissions, and farming methods that improve soil health and capture carbon.

World Biodiversity Day, formally the International Day for Biological Diversity, celebrated on May 22, focuses on the theme “Building a Shared Future for All Life.” Learn more about how you can take action.

Routine vaccinations are down – and measles is up

We effectively eliminated measles in the U.S. 20 years ago—but with routine vaccinations down, measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases are reemerging in the U.S. and globally. Experts discussed the problem during a recent virtual event hosted by Vaccinated Your Family (VYF).

During the 2020-2021 school year, MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), DTaP, and Varicella vaccinations among kindergarten children dropped “about 1% from the previous year—that amounts to 35,000 more children without vaccination documents,” according to the CDC.

Meanwhile, measles cases rose 79% in 2022,reported UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). In January-February 2022, 17,338 measles cases were reported worldwide, up from 9,665 in January-February 2021.

U.S. children and adults missed 37 million routine vaccinations during the pandemic,found health care consulting firm Avalere. Adolescent vaccines declined 36% between January 2020-July 2021, said Avalere during the VYF event. 

While flu vaccine demand was up in 2020, uptake was lower among low-income groups and minority communities, showing the importance of communication and health literacy partnerships.

The context: Everyone’s talking about monkeypox cases in the U.S. and Europe—which could be a result of “the halt in routine smallpox vaccinations decades ago,” Newsweek reports. “The smallpox vaccine also protected against monkeypox.” 

Learn more: The CDC and Vaccinate Your Family have developed resources including vaccination schedules, safety information, and more.

More Health Care News:

Endpoints News: As monkeypox quickly spreads, a handful of biotechs spring to action
“The good news is we have a vaccine.”

President Biden’s Monday: In Tokyo, he held a press conference this morning with Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, which BIO supports. 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: We’re expecting things to be pretty quiet between now and Memorial Day, but we’ll keep an eye out for news.