Serially-passaged virus stocks have been a problem in virology research for a long time, but the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the life-and-death consequences of untimely, poor-quality virus reagents like never before.

What if researchers had access to authentic stocks of SARS-CoV-2 within weeks of its emergence? Could low-cost, accurate rapid diagnostic tests have been available sooner? How many more antiviral therapies could have reached the patients who needed them? How many lives could have been saved?