I want to work as a researcher in this field, but I am deeply confused. I have no idea of what undergraduate degree I should pursue.
Should I do a Biological Sciences baccalaureate? Biotechnology? Or maybe some quantitative field, like Math or Statistics?
I have been looking around for days, but I can't find any concrete answer. I have read 80.000 hour's page on the subject, but it does not provide a precise answer.
Edit: for those who are in the same situation as I am (or was, in case you're in the future) the "tentative career advice" section in this page (besides the commentaries in this post) might be of some help
https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/preventing-catastrophic-pandemics/full-report/#how-to-help
I agree with the other comments saying that it depends on your interests and strengths, but empathise that this isn't as helpful as you were hoping. When do you need to decide? And what universities are you considering?
To flesh out the generic advice - biorisk is inherently a multidisciplinary area, and there's a large number of academic fields that are useful. The current cadre of leaders in the field are generally all people who began their career within a particular discipline and then turned to biorisk more in their mid-career.
No one is an expert on all of the relevant disciplines, and in my view there isn't a single 'best' undergraduate. Still, some are more useful than others. In general I'd expect courses with harder skills (like stats, modelling, economics etc.) might be more valuable than courses that are primarily about content. This is mainly because you can often learn content by reading and writing, but this is harder for more technical skills. Also, consider what proportion of the course is relevant to what you think is important. For example, I just finished my medical degree, and while its a useful qualification in the area, most of the content isn't very useful for biorisk.
I think your best approach is to read a bit (don't feel obligated to read everything! be selective and skim!) from lots of different areas of the problem. See what strikes you as interesting or fun to read and think about. Here are some good reading lists: Greg Lewis', Tessa Alexanian's, Chris Bakerlee's.
In general, I don't think my or anyone else's view should strongly influence your decision - we're all often wrong and the field/problem can change quickly! It's more robust to try exploring relevant domains and seeing what you like. I assume you're a young person given you're pre-undergrad - so exploration is really important right now! The most important determinant of your future contribution to the area (or another area if it strikes your fancy) is your future health, wellbeing, and interest in your work - not what your major was!
Thank you!