na INLIS000000000018757 20240212081818 0010-0224000007 ta 240212 | | | ARTVET2383 ARTVET2383 Blacksell, Stuart D. The Biosafety Research Road Map : The Search for Evidence to Support Practices in the Laboratory—SARS-CoV-2 / Blacksell, Stuart D. Applied Biosafety, Vol, 28, No, 2. 2023 87–95 SARS-CoV-2 pathogen characteristics biosafety evidence biosafety knowledge gap biorisk management Dhawan, Sandhya Kusumoto, Marina Le, Kim Khanh Summermatter, Kathrin O’Keefe, Joseph Kozlova, Joseph Almuhairi, Salama Suhail Sendow, Indrawati Scheel, Christina M. Ahumibe, Anthony Masuku, Zibusiso M. Kojima, Kazunobu Harper, David R. Hamilton, Keith Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged as a novel virus and is the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic. It spreads readily human-to-human through droplets and aerosols. The Biosafety Research Roadmap aims to support the application of laboratory biological risk management by providing an evi- dence base for biosafety measures. This involves assessing the current biorisk management evidence base, identifying research and capability gaps, and providing recommendations on how an evidence- based approach can support biosafety and biosecurity, including in low-resource settings. Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify potential gaps in biosafety and focused on ?ve main sections, including the route of inoculation/modes of transmission, infectious dose, laboratory-acquired infections, containment releases, and disinfection and decontamination strategies. Results: There are many knowledge gaps related to biosafety and biosecurity due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s novelty, including infectious dose between variants, personal protective equipment for personnel handling samples while performing rapid diagnostic tests, and laboratory-acquired infections. Detecting vulnerabil- ities in the biorisk assessment for each agent is essential to contribute to the improvement and develop- ment of laboratory biosafety in local and national systems. DOI: 10.1089/apb.2022.0039