Due to the Spread of Novel Coronavirus... Minister of Science and ICT: "Science and Technology Must Protect Public Health"

Development of Rapid Diagnostic Kit for Novel Coronavirus Underway

[Asia Economy Reporter Seolgina Jo] On the 5th, Choi Ki-young, Minister of Science and ICT, visited the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology to check the current status of the scientific community's response to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) and stated, "One of the important roles of science and technology is to protect the health of the people."

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, this visit was arranged to emphasize the need for the scientific community's contribution in response to the novel coronavirus and to urge researchers to play their roles for the rapid field application of research outcomes. In the meeting, along with Minister Choi, 10 participants including virus-related researchers from industry, academia, and research institutes discussed scientific solutions to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, current research status, and strategies for response.

Currently, government-funded research institutes such as the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology and the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology are promoting the development of rapid diagnostic kits for the novel coronavirus. Additionally, the Korea Pasteur Institute plans to soon conduct experiments to find drugs effective against the novel coronavirus using medications certified for safety by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Before the meeting, Minister Choi visited the Biohealth Nano Guard Research Group conducting infectious disease-related research to encourage the researchers. He emphasized, "The entire scientific community's effort is necessary to produce research outcomes related to infectious diseases that the public can feel and to promptly apply them in the field to reduce the public's anxiety."

The government will invest 129 billion won this year in major research and development related to human infectious diseases, an increase of 17.2% compared to the previous year. This will be used for future infectious disease response, prevention, treatment, and technology development. Furthermore, the Ministry of Science and ICT is currently in discussions with related ministries, including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, regarding the urgent allocation of research and development funds to conduct specialized research related to the response to this situation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.