Bio-cybersecurity discussion series to cover threats to synthetic biology, biomanufacturing, and bio-data 12 Mar, 2021 As the era of biological innovation unfolds and more bio-based products are developed and manufactured, there is a new awareness of the vulnerability of the growing bio-economy to cyber attacks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been reports of increasing cyber threats to SARS-CoV-2 research databases and manufacturing operations. These follow an increasing frequency of ransomware threats to hospital systems and known vulnerabilities to operating systems for research and industrial equipment used in critical life sciences discovery and manufacturing. These threats apply across all areas of the bio-economy, including production of therapeutics, vaccines, chemicals, energy, and agriculture.