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Established vaccine hesitancy measurement instruments, such as the Vaccine Hesitancy Determinants Matrix, are not sufficiently equipped to adequately and consistently measure political and ideological attitudes. Focusing on Germany, which is a particularly interesting case since it witnessed the establishment of the by far most well‐organized and sustained ‘anti‐Covid’ movement in Europe, this quantitative study explores the impact of political ideology and partisanship on the degree of vaccine hesitancy based on four surveys (February—October 2021) among more than 30,000 individuals. We demonstrate that party affiliation, political ideology and region of residence all impact vaccine hesitancy. In fact, they turn out to have a greater impact than two factors often analysed with respect to vaccine hesitancy: gender and educational background. Further interaction models show that the effect of political ideology on vaccine hesitancy is moderated by age, gender and region of residency. For instance, while the more rightwing a young individual is, the more hesitant they are towards SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination—for older individuals, this is not the case. Our findings are relevant for future investigators measuring vaccine hesitancy and policy makers contemplating the differential impact of complex public health interventions: as the impact of political and ideological attitudes on vaccine hesitancy are not adequately captured by established vaccine hesitancy measurement instruments, we recommend its modification to include a clear and harmonised definition of the political‐ideological dimension of vaccine hesitancy together with pre‐validated measurement items that improve future studies. In addition, we reason that vaccine hesitancy, while being an outcome of complex socio‐political factors, is in itself an indicator for societal cohesion and anomie, the degree of which is associated with trust in (health) policy makers, (public) health authorities, health service providers, etc. Therefore, we further recommend that vaccine hesitancy questions should be integrated in pertinent national surveys. This article investigates determinants of vaccine hesitancy based on political‐ideological attitudes in Germany using data from four survey waves across >30,000 respondents (February until October 2021). Regression models show that party affiliation, political ideology and region of residence explain vaccine hesitancy. As a consequence, items capturing political‐ideological attitudes should be integrated into contemporary vaccine assessment models.

Background SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have significantly reduced human and economic losses. Nevertheless, vaccine hesitancy remains a major issue in many countries, including Germany. Recent studies have shown that public health framing and incentives can boost immunization rates. However, available evidence is fragmented and inconclusive regarding the effectiveness of different framing messages, types of incentives, and the size of financial incentives across different populations. Methods This randomized, controlled survey experiment elicited the attitudes of 6,685 Germans towards 4 financial/non-financial SARS-CoV-2 immunization incentives (food voucher, football tickets, participation in lottery, immediate monetary compensation), and tested whether framing (individual/collective, health/economic consequences) affected said attitudes. We assigned participants to five study arms (control: no frame; experiment: 1 of 4 frames) and measured attitudes towards immunization incentives, and the amount of monetary compensation deemed appropriate, should such an incentive be considered. Results While > 75% of our sample considered all 4 incentives to be not meaningful, all frames increased favorable views towards the financial incentives lottery/money and the average amount deemed acceptable for immediate monetary compensation. Interaction models showed that all frames have similar effects across core subgroups, e.g. age-cohorts, gender, vaccine doses. Conclusions Across a sample of 6,685 Germans, we show that 4 different frames detailing the potential individual/collective consequences of COVID-19 have very similar effects on attitudes towards monetary incentives for SARS-CoV-2 immunization. Our results suggest that the existence of frames rather than specific narratives is key to increasing favorable views towards immunization incentives. Clinical trial number Not applicable.

Summary Microbes and their activities have pervasive influence and deterministic roles in the functioning and health of the geosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, i.e. in nature. Microbiology can be considered a language of nature. We have argued that the relevance of microbes for everyday personal decisions and collective policies requires that society attains microbiology literacy, through the introduction of child‐relevant microbiology topics into school curricula. That is: children should learn the microbiology language of nature. Children can be effective transmitters of new and/or rapidly evolving knowledge within families and beyond, where there is a substantive information asymmetry (witness digital technology, social media, and new languages in foreign countries). They can thus be key disseminators of microbiology knowledge, where there will be information asymmetry for the foreseeable future, and thereby contribute to the attainment of microbiology literacy in society. The education of family and friends can be encouraged/stimulated by home assignments, family leisure projects, and school‐organised microbiology‐centric social‐education events. Children are key stakeholders in family decisions. Their microbiology knowledge, and their dissemination of it, can help inform and increase the objectivity of such decisions. Children can be facilitators and accelerators of microbiology literacy attainment in society. Exciting new information they acquire in school will be transmitted to family and friends. Their role in the microbiology knowledge dissemination pathway can be encouraged and supported by home assignments, family leisure projects, and school‐organised microbiology‐centric social‐education events.

Recent studies demonstrate that sociopolitical attitudes partially explain variance in (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine hesitancy and uptake. Other attitudes, such as those towards esoteric beliefs, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and religion, have also been proposed. However, pertinent studies provide limited direction for public health efforts, as the impact of such attitudes has been tested in isolation or on different outcomes. Moreover, related associations between SARS-CoV-2 immunization drivers as well as views towards other modes of immunization (e.g., routine pediatric immunization), remain unclear. Based on a sample of ~7400 survey participants (Germany), where esoteric belief systems and CAM (Waldorf, homeopathy) are rather prevalent, and controlling for other sociological factors, we found that (i) individuals with positive attitudes towards Waldorf education and homeopathy are significantly less likely to have received a (further) dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine compared to those with positive views of mainstream medicine; (ii) for the former, immunization decisions are primarily driven by external pressures, and for the latter overwhelmingly by voluntary considerations; (iii) attitudes influencing adult SARS-CoV-2 vaccine uptake similarly influence views towards routine pediatric immunization. Our findings provide significant evidence informing a more nuanced design of public health and communication campaigns, and pertinent policies.

Two substituted phosphonium tetrahydoxidohexaoxidopentaborate(1-) salts, [iPrPPh3][B5O6(OH)4]·3.5H2O (1) and [MePPh3][B5O6(OH)4]·B(OH)3·0.5H2O (2), were prepared by templated self-assembly processes with good yields by crystallization from basic methanolic aqueous solutions primed with B(OH)3 and the appropriate phosphonium cation. Salts 1 and 2 were characterized by spectroscopic (NMR and IR) and thermal (TGA/DSC) analysis. Salts 1 and 2 were thermally decomposed in air at 800 °C to glassy solids via the anhydrous phosphonium polyborates that are formed at lower temperatures (<300 °C). BET analysis of the anhydrous and pyrolysed materials indicated they were non-porous with surface areas of 0.2–2.75 m2/g. Rhe recrystallization of 1 and 2 from aqueous solution afforded crystals suitable for single-crystal XRD analyses. The structure of 1 comprises alternating cationic/anionic layers with the H2O/pentaborate(1-) planes held together by H-bonds. The cationic planes have offset face-to-face (off) and vertex-to-face (vf) aromatic ring interactions with the iPr groups oriented towards the pentaborate(1-)/H2O layers. The anionic lattice in 2 is expanded by the inclusion of B(OH)3 molecules to accommodate the large cations; this results in the formation of a stacked pentaborate(1-)/B(OH)3 structure with channels occupied by the cations. The cations within the channels have vf, ef (edge-to-face), and off phenyl embraces. Both H-bonding and phenyl embrace interactions are important in stabilizing these two solid-state structures.

Microbial biotechnologies could affect health through multiple pathways, including impacts on food, nutrition, and the physical, economic, and social environment. Health in All Policies is an approach to ensure that plans and policies in all sectors maximise health gains and minimise any health risks. This approach often uses health impact assessment as a structured process to identify and assess positive and negative health impacts and make recommendations to improve these. There are very few examples where HIA has been applied to the implementation of microbial biotechnologies. As more biotechnologies are developed and implemented, more routine use of HIA could help to avoid adverse effects and realise their potential to improve health and reduce health inequalities. This will require greater awareness and understanding of the breadth of links to health, research to build the evidence base for these links, and governance mechanisms to oversee the development and implementation of microbial biotechnologies that prioritise health, equity and sustainability. Applying Health in All Policies to the development and application of microbial biotechnologies can identify and address a range of possible health determinants.

Microbial technologies, exemplified by vaccines and microbially inspired and produced pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, play a central role in the prevention, amelioration and curing of disease, saving millions of lives and reducing billions of cases of suffering every year (). [...]life-saving microbial technologies play out not only in the healthcare sector but also in wastewater and drinking water monitoring and treatment (Fowler and Smets 2017), food provision, bioremediation, etc. [...]given that new life-threatening problems, such as diverse impacts of global warming (Lenton et al. 2023), have arisen and appropriate microbial technologies either exist or can be developed to contribute to their mitigation, the scope and scale of life-saving/−prolonging/−improving microbial solutions will continue to grow (Verstraete et al. 2022). The constant and justified exhortation to engage in inter- and trans-disciplinary research in which some of the most significant discoveries are to be made is only modestly successful, partly because of this and partly because of the difficulty of finding willing and capable assessors of grant applications for such projects and subsequent manuscript submissions, which as a consequence often result in unwarranted rejection, disappointment and discouragement to engage further in such research. [...]if microbiologists want society to take full advantage of the power and potential of currently unfamiliar microbial technologies, and for leaders and policy-makers to step outside their comfort zones and take the risk (for them) of implementing new solutions they only incompletely understand, we must ourselves step outside of our comfort zones and take the risk of engaging in conversations of broader issues. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report for 2020–21 (), cardiovascular, respiratory and infectious diseases were leading causes of death globally, with significant differences between low/medium income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs) (see also ; ).

There is much human disadvantage and unmet need in the world, including deficits in basic resources and services considered to be human rights, such as drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, healthy nutrition, access to basic healthcare, and a clean environment. Furthermore, there are substantive asymmetries in the distribution of key resources among peoples. These deficits and asymmetries can lead to local and regional crises among peoples competing for limited resources, which, in turn, can become sources of discontent and conflict. Such conflicts have the potential to escalate into regional wars and even lead to global instability. Ergo: in addition to moral and ethical imperatives to level up, to ensure that all peoples have basic resources and services essential for healthy living and to reduce inequalities, all nations have a self‐interest to pursue with determination all available avenues to promote peace through reducing sources of conflicts in the world. Microorganisms and pertinent microbial technologies have unique and exceptional abilities to provide, or contribute to the provision of, basic resources and services that are lacking in many parts of the world, and thereby address key deficits that might constitute sources of conflict. However, the deployment of such technologies to this end is seriously underexploited. Here, we highlight some of the key available and emerging technologies that demand greater consideration and exploitation in endeavours to eliminate unnecessary deprivations, enable healthy lives of all and remove preventable grounds for competition over limited resources that can escalate into conflicts in the world. We exhort central actors: microbiologists, funding agencies and philanthropic organisations, politicians worldwide and international governmental and non‐governmental organisations, to engage – in full partnership – with all relevant stakeholders, to ‘weaponise’ microbes and microbial technologies to fight resource deficits and asymmetries, in particular among the most vulnerable populations, and thereby create humanitarian conditions more conducive to harmony and peace. Deficits and asymmetries in basic resources and services considered to be human rights, such as a healthy diet, drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, healthcare, and a clean environment, can create discontent that may lead to conflicts, some of which have the potential to escalate into regional wars that in turn may cause global instability. Here, we highlight some of the available and emerging microbial technologies that demand greater consideration and exploitation in endeavours to eliminate unnecessary deprivations, enable healthy lives of all, and remove preventable grounds for conflicts in the world. Such technologies are preordained as some of the key mediators of social equity and peace among and between peoples.

Patents and the systematic analysis thereof provide important decision information for a range of stakeholders pursuing diverse goals. However, in particular academia and small‐scale private sector innovators underappreciate the value of patent information for identifying research gaps, ensuring originality of their work and, in turn, maximisation of limited (public) funds. By the same token, pertinent public sector organisations, such as regulators, require overviews of potentially upcoming technologies to adequately adapt regulatory protocols. The latter, in particular if contemporary scientific evidence is not sufficient, can require a substantial amount of time and lead to a delay in the marketing of important innovations. Patent landscape analysis (PLA) is a very useful method to create overviews of technology fields and thereby indicate if, inter alia, a specific line of scientific enquiry and its application have already been pursued or potential regulatory gaps will exist in the near‐ to mid‐term future. The objective of this communication is to increase awareness of the utility of patent information and provide support in retrieval and analysis of pertinent information for those involved in biotech R&D. Based on Espacenet, a patent search engine, we provide basic guidance on search strategy development, piloting and execution, and data preparation and analysis. To highlight the value of PLA, we also summarise selected results of a PLA we performed recently for microbiome targeting interventions, also referred to as live biotherapeutic products. Patents and the systematic analysis thereof provide important decision information for a range of stakeholders pursuing diverse goals. Patent landscape analysis (PLA) is a very useful method to create overviews of technology fields and thereby indicate if, inter alia, a specific line of scientific enquiry and its application have already been pursued or potential regulatory gaps will exist in the near‐ to mid‐term future. Based on Espacenet, a patent search engine, we provide basic guidance on search strategy development, piloting and execution, and data preparation and analysis.

Conventional clinical trials are essential for generating high-quality evidence by measuring the efficacy of interventions in rigorously controlled clinical environments. However, their execution can be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, clinical trials face several logistical challenges regarding the identification, recruitment, and retention of participants; consistent data collection during trials; and adequate patient follow-up. This might lead to inefficient resource utilization. In order to partially address the current problems with conventional clinical trials, there exists the need for innovations. One such innovation is the virtual clinical trial (VCT). VCTs allow for the collection and integration of diverse data from multiple information sources, such as electronic health records, clinical and demographic data, patient-reported outcomes, anthropometric and activity measurements, and data collected by digital biomarkers or (small) samples that participants can collect themselves. Although VCTs have the potential to provide substantial value to clinical research and patients because they can lower clinical trial costs, increase the volume of data collected from patients' daily environment, and reduce the burden of patient participation, so far VCT adoption is not commonplace. This paper aims to better understand the barriers and facilitators to VCT adoption by determining the factors that influence individuals' considerations regarding VCTs from the perspective of various stakeholders. Based on online semistructured interviews, a qualitative study was conducted with pharmaceutical companies, food and health organizations, and an applied research organization in Europe. Data were thematically analyzed using Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory. A total of 16 individuals with interest and experience in VCTs were interviewed, including persons from pharmaceutical companies (n=6), food and health organizations (n=4), and a research organization (n=6). Key barriers included a potentially low degree of acceptance by regulatory authorities, technical issues (standardization, validation, and data storage), compliance and adherence, and lack of knowledge or comprehension regarding the opportunities VCTs have to offer. Involvement of regulators in development processes, stakeholder exposure to the results of pilot studies, and clear and simple instructions and assistance for patients were considered key facilitators. Collaboration among all stakeholders in VCT development is crucial to increase knowledge and awareness. Organizations should invest in accurate data collection technologies, and compliance of patients in VCTs needs to be ensured. Multicriteria decision analysis can help determine if a VCT is a preferred option by stakeholders. The findings of this study can be a good starting point to accelerate the development and widespread implementation of VCTs.