The goal of the global virus project is to identify the potentially dangerous viruses, a little over half a million in ten years. The model is similar to the collaboration in reading human DNA in the early 2000s.

The researchers want to collect the genetic material from the disease virus in an international database and also register with which animals they are and describe the risk environments for infection. This survey would cost an estimated SEK 15 billion.

Find the viruses before they reach us

"The relative cost of the project is obviously very small in light of the effects on the world economy during the covid-19 pandemic," says Dennis Carrol, president of the Global Virome Project.

- The project is not about waiting for the virus to find us, but to stop them before they spill over to humans, Dennis Carrol continues.

Prepare a remedy before the pandemic

The idea is that the mapping should lead to tests, vaccines and medications for the most dangerous viruses before they hit humanity. So far, China and Thailand, among others, have shown interest in financing the project and setting up their national programs according to Dennis Carrol, which, however, expects many more countries to come.

See the entire report in the Science world “The road out of corona” on May 11 in SVT2 and on SVTplay.