Pathogenic Microorganisms and Biosafety

In today’s interconnected world, the spread of pathogenic microorganisms poses a significant challenge to global public health, economic stability, and societal security. As population growth, rapid urbanization, international travel, and climate change increase the likelihood of pathogen transmission, the risks associated with infectious diseases continue to grow. The frequent emergence of outbreaks underscores the urgent need to enhance our understanding of pathogens and establish effective biosafety protocols.

Efforts to control and prevent the spread of pathogens are essential not only for human health but also for agriculture, ecosystems, and economic resilience. Pathogens spread through diverse channels, including air, soil, water, food, and direct contact, posing risks to billions of people. In the era of globalization, pathogens can cross borders swiftly, threatening public health on a global scale.

Biosafety has thus emerged as a crucial field, focusing on researching and developing strategies and technologies to prevent the spread of pathogens, thereby protecting laboratory staff, healthcare workers, the public, and the environment. Biosafety encompasses a wide range of measures, from operational protocols for laboratories to public health defense systems. It also extends to scientific advancements and innovations that enhance our ability to manage microbial threats.

Biosafety is equally critical in scientific research, medical studies, and biotechnology. Laboratory work involving pathogens require strict adherence to biosafety standards and management practices to ensure pathogens are both controlled and responsibly used. Establishing a scientifically standardized biosafety supports effective biological risk management, advancing the safe development of biotechnology and medical research.

As new technologies and methods are continually introduced, biosafety research is also evolving to address the increasingly complex risks posed by microbial threats. This has made the study of pathogens and biosafety a multidisciplinary and essential field, encompassing medicine, microbiology, public health, ecology, and social management, with profound implications for society and the global economy.

This Research Topic aims to create a platform for researchers and clinicians to share their knowledge or experience of the latest developments in basic research, clinical experience, and novel methods or analysis technology to determine the pathogens.

This Research Topic will welcome Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Methods, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective and Case Reports focusing on these following themes:

• Research on pathogenic microorganisms
• Pathogen detection technologies
• Vaccine and therapeutic development
• Epidemiology and transmission control of pathogenic microorganisms
• Biosafety management and protective techniques
• Bioinformatics and data analysis
• Social and ethical studies
• Environmental and ecological biosafety
Here are some pathogenic species of concern in biosafety, which are of particular interest in research, clinical, and industrial settings due to their potential risks to human health, agriculture, and the environment.
• Bacteria: Escherichia coli (E. coli), Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella species, Shigella species, Staphylococcus aureus (including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA), Streptococcus pyogenes, etc.
• Viruses: Coronavirus (e.g., SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2), Dengue virus, Hepatitis viruses, Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Influenza viruses (seasonal and avian), Monkeypox virus, etc.

Keywords: Pathogens, Pathogenesis, Prevent, Control, Biosafety

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.