Atom Bioworks Inc

Sbir Phase Ii: COVID-19 Rapid Sensing Using Structural Dna Biosensors -the Broader Impact of This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Project Will Be the Development of a Platform Technology for Creating Rapid Virus Diagnostics That Directly Recognizes the Virus Surface Protein Pattern From a Patient Sample and Generates Accurate Results Within Minutes. Current Standards for High-fidelity Viral Pathogen Diagnostics Require Complex Instruments, Technical Expertise to Run the Instruments, and Hours to Produce and Interpret Results. the Proposed Platform Creates a Virus-specific Biosensor That Selectively Binds to the Target Virus and Produces Visible Results Without Time-consuming Pre-processing or Expensive Instruments. Lower Cost Tests and Faster Sample-to-result Turnovers Could Result in More Effective Control of Disease Spread. This Project Seeks to Develop a Highly Functional, Sensitive, and Specific Diagnostic for the Detection of Coronavirus. This Technology Is Based on the Company?s Pattern-recognition Enhanced Sensing and Therapeutics (PEST) Concept. the Solution Is a First-in-class Diagnostics That Uses Algorithmically-designed Structural Dna to Form a Trap That May Detect and Selectively Bind a Signature Pattern of the Pathogen. This Recognition and Binding May Generate Visual Signals Without the Need of Dna/rna Preprocessing or Amplification Associated With the Current Generation of Molecular Tests (polymerase Chain Reactions, PCRS). This Project Will Involve Building a Preclinical Prototype of Pest-enabled Lateral Flow Based COVID-19 Rapid Diagnostics With a Goal of Providing Results for Each Sample Within 5 Minutes. This Fast Test Result Will Be Followed by Preclinical Validation to Determine the Test?s Specificity, Limits of Detection, and Implement Mechanism to Improve the Assay Specificity and to Avoid Cross-reaction to Other Virus Types. This Award Reflects NSF'S Statutory Mission and Has Been Deemed Worthy of Support Through Evaluation Using the Foundation's Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts Review Criteria.