British science is facing arguably its biggest ever peacetime challenge – to develop reliable diagnostic tests and an effective vaccination for the human coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative organism of COVID-19. If there is one researcher who truly understands how difficult the task will be, and what is needed to succeed, he is Joe Brownlie. The former head of pathology at the Royal Veterinary College led the team which solved the mystery of a coronavirus strain causing respiratory disease in dogs. He told John Bonner what lessons that project can teach us in dealing with the current pandemic.