Scientists' call to action: Microbes, planetary health, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, and protists, are essential to life on Earth and the functioning of the biosphere. Here, we discuss the key roles of microorganisms in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting recent and emerging advances in microbial research and technology that can facilitate our transition toward a sustainable future. Given the central role of microorganisms in the biochemical processing of elements, synthesizing new materials, supporting human health, and facilitating life in managed and natural landscapes, microbial research and technologies are directly or indirectly relevant for achieving each of the SDGs.

Patent landscape analysis-Contributing to the identification of technology trends and informing research and innovation funding policy.

Patents and the systematic analysis thereof provide important decision information for a range of stakeholders pursuing diverse goals. However, in particular academia and small-scale private sector innovators underappreciate the value of patent information for identifying research gaps, ensuring originality of their work and, in turn, maximisation of limited (public) funds. By the same token, pertinent public sector organisations, such as regulators, require overviews of potentially upcoming technologies to adequately adapt regulatory protocols.

Stakeholder Perspectives on Barriers and Facilitators for the Adoption of Virtual Clinical Trials: Qualitative Study.

Background: Conventional clinical trials are essential for generating high-quality evidence by measuring the efficacy of interventions in rigorously controlled clinical environments. However, their execution can be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, clinical trials face several logistical challenges regarding the identification, recruitment, and retention of participants; consistent data collection during trials; and adequate patient follow-up.

Synthetic consortia of nanobody-coupled and formatted bacteria for prophylaxis and therapy interventions targeting microbiome dysbiosis-associated diseases and co-morbidities.

Designed nanobody-linked synthetic consortia for microbiota dysbiosis therapies. A. Nanobodies (Nb) are selected for specific antigens on target bacteria destined for a synthetic therapy consortium that may consist of two (B) or multiple (C) members.

Improving accountability in vaccine decision-making.

Healthcare decisions, in particular those affecting entire populations, should be evidence-based and taken by decision-makers sharing broad alignment with affected stakeholders. However, criteria, priorities and procedures for decision-making are sometimes non-transparent, frequently vary considerably across equivalent decision-bodies, do not always consider the broader benefits of new health-measures, and therefore do not necessarily adequately represent the relevant stakeholder-spectrum. Areas covered: To address these issues in the context of the evaluation of new vaccines, we have proposed a first baseline set of core evaluation criteria, primarily selected by members of the vaccine research community, and suggested their implementation in vaccine evaluation procedures.

The contribution of microbial biotechnology to economic growth and employment creation.

Our communication discusses the profound impact of bio-based economies - in particular microbial biotechnologies - on SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. A bio-based economy provides significant potential for improving labour supply, education and investment, and thereby for substantially increasing the demographic dividend. This, in turn, improves the sustainable development of economies.

The contribution of microbial biotechnology to sustainable development goals.

The signature and almost unique characteristic of microbial technology is the exceptional diversity of applications it can address, and the exceptional range of human activities and needs to which it is and can be applied. Precisely because sustainability goals have very diverse and complex components and requirements, microbial technology has the ability to contribute substantively on many levels in many arenas to global efforts to achieve sustainability. Indeed, microbial technology could be viewed as a unifying element in our progress towards sustainability.

The DIY Digital Medical Centre.

Healthcare systems worldwide are confronted with major economic, organizational and logistical challenges. Historic evolution of health care has led to significant healthcare sector fragmentation, resulting in systemic inefficiencies and suboptimal resource exploitation. To attain a sustainable healthcare model, fundamental, system-wide improvements that effectively network, and ensure fulfilment of potential synergies between sectors, and include and facilitate coherent strategic planning and organisation of healthcare infrastructure are needed.

Core values for vaccine evaluation.

Currently, most health economic modelling approaches tend to inadequately incorporate crucial disease-specific criteria and other attributes of benefit resulting from vaccination, which limits their utility for evaluating vaccines and, in consequence, for optimally guiding vaccine decision-making. Additionally, vaccine evaluation methods are frequently poorly standardised and non-transparent, leading to a potentially low level of accountability that can hinder acceptance of resulting decisions. To address these issues, we have considered whether it is possible to identify a set of universal vaccine-disease considerations, which we have called Core Values.

Pipelines for New Chemicals: a strategy to create new value chains and stimulate innovation-based economic revival in Southern European countries.

Countries of Southern Europe are currently suffering from severe socio-economic pain resulting from high debt levels and austerity measures which constrain investment in innovation-based recovery strategies that are essential for entry into a long-term sustainable period of increasing employment and wealth creation. Young university-educated people are particularly innovative, and hence vital to the development of such strategies, but employment opportunities are poor and many are forced to seek employment that neither profits from their training nor satisfies their justified career expectations, or to emigrate. They are the 'lost generation'.