es, I am a big jazz fan. I get very caught up in the intense and convoluted rhythms, the ups and downs that mimic our journeys through life, and the improvisations that reflect the creativity and interactions of the musicians creating a masterpiece. In many respects, our response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been a jazz composition unfolding. Over the past 15 months, we have witnessed gut-wrenching ups and downs including early uncertainty about the extent of the threat, the rises and falls in the number of people infected and dead, the discord in how governments and individuals orchestrated responses to the pandemic, and the improvisation and ingenuity that emerged when strategic scientific, public health, policy, and logistical experts fell into synchronization. Like great jazz pieces, the orchestrated solution evolved from great players learning to create together. This playing together has been core to our industrial biotechnology community as we seek to expand the global bioeconomy.