BioTechniques and Coronavirus

Digital Editor Tristan Free discusses the impact of the current pandemic on BioTechniques, how we are dealing with the situation, how we are trying to keep to business as usual and what we are trying to do to help.

To adapt to the current situation with COVID-19 and to assist however we are able, BioTechniques has introduced some new features, alongside Future Science Group as a whole. As the scientific community has pulled together to combat the disease, conducting huge volumes of research into the virus and potentials solutions to its spread. This has led to a huge amount of news and research that it is imperative both researchers and industry members are able to keep abreast of.

If you would like to keep up to date with our content on coronavirus, you can sign up for our site here, where you can subscribe to our newsletters for free!

In order to accommodate this news on BioTechniques we have established a new Coronavirus News topic section onsite, which is providing a continual stream of updates and developments as the pandemic continues, including this continually updated article, which summarises all the articles published not only in BioTechniques but in all journals published by Future Science Group that are relevant to or concerning COVID-19. All the papers in this article have been made free to access to facilitate the rapid sharing of knowledge required to combat this disease.

Alongside the rest of Future Science Group, we are now offering more webinar opportunities than ever before in order to help those who were due to share information at conferences and meetings that have since been canceled or postponed. We’re also still processing submissions, and have our accelerated publication option available for anyone who needs to share information quickly.

None of this would have been possible without the heroic efforts of researchers around the world who are dedicating their time and energy to understand and counter this pandemic. In the face of many challenges and in a time when numerous industries around the world have been sadly hamstrung by this disease, the scientific community has presented a staggering sense of unity and responsibility. To those continuing their vital research, we thank you.

I would be remiss not to note the efforts of the fantastically adaptable BioTechniques editorial team – our inspirational Editor-in-Chief Francesca Lake, the Managing Editor of the journal Joseph Martin, Editor Jenny Straiton, and key contributors Caitlin Killen and Katie Gordon – who over the course of the last 2 weeks have pulled together to help produce 15 news articles, 3 interviews and a podcast, alongside a plethora of other features.

So, thank you to them for making my job significantly easier in these challenging times, and thanks to you, our readers, for sticking with us as we adjust to these circumstances. Please continue to enjoy our content and I hope that this message finds you safe, well and with exceptionally clean hands!

Tristan Free,
Digital Editor, BioTechniques