SBIR Phase I: Pathogen Interception: A new method for finding and identifying genetic sequences

SBIR 第一阶段：病原体拦截：寻找和识别基因序列的新方法

• 批准号: 2230484
• 负责人: Thomas Goodman
• 金额: $ 27.5万
• 依托单位: GOODMAN CONSULTING GROUP, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-05-01 至 2025-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2230484&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Pathogen; Interception; new

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be the ability to quickly and inexpensively determine the presence and genetic sequence of a wide variety of pathogenic organisms. Most importantly, this technology could be implemented without prior assumptions as to which organisms are expected. Sequencing will be accomplished by direct electrical identification of the building blocks, the bases, of the genomic sequence. The potential societal impact of this technology is to provide a method to screen individuals quickly (under a minute) for the presence of infections. Screening at ports of entry and in appropriate community settings will minimize disease transmission and allow for the quick identification and treatment of any infected individuals at US borders. In addition, beyond this immediate application, the technology may also enhance scientific understanding of normal genetic sequences in any organism. If its anticipated speed, high accuracy, and low cost are realized, this technology may find applications in human in vitro diagnostics and human genome sequencing. The studies in this Phase I project will lead to a proof-of-concept demonstration for an automated, commercial instrument.The project seeks to determine the identity and order of the genetic building blocks, the nucleotide bases, comprising any genomic sequences present in a sample solution. This sequencing will be done by examining the ability of each base in the sequence to modify a tunneling current as it is passed by electrophoresis across two very closely spaced tunneling electrodes. Tunneling is a well-known quantum mechanical effect, and it is quite sensitive to the electrical configuration of the object (here a given specific nucleotide base) present between its electrodes. Experiments with this technology to date have been unsuccessful because genetic sequences have not been able to be moved slowly enough across the tunneling electrodes for their bases to be distinguished. The studies here will overcome this problem by modifications of the geometry and solution conditions of the electrophoresis and possibly with improved methods of tunneling current detection. The data obtained through the application of this technology is expected to enhance the current understanding of nucleotide base chemistry. The solution may permit the detection of nucleotide base modifications of potential biological and medical importance.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.

这个小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目的更广泛影响将是能够快速、廉价地确定多种病原生物的存在和基因序列。最重要的是，这项技术可以在不事先假设预期生物体的情况下实施。测序将通过对基因组序列的构建模块、碱基的直接电识别来完成。这项技术的潜在社会影响是提供一种快速（一分钟内）筛查个人是否感染的方法。在入境口岸和适当的社区环境中进行筛查将最大限度地减少疾病传播，并允许在美国边境快速识别和治疗任何感染者。此外，除了这种直接应用之外，该技术还可以增强对任何生物体正常基因序列的科学理解。如果其预期的速度、高精度和低成本得以实现，该技术可能会在人体体外诊断和人类基因组测序中得到应用。该第一阶段项目的研究将导致对自动化商业仪器进行概念验证演示。该项目旨在确定遗传构件、核苷酸碱基的身份和顺序，其中包括存在于基因组中的任何基因组序列。样品溶液。该测序将通过检查序列中每个碱基修改隧道电流（当隧道电流通过电泳穿过两个间隔非常近的隧道电极时）的能力来完成。隧道效应是一种众所周知的量子力学效应，它对其电极之间存在的物体（此处为给定的特定核苷酸碱基）的电配置非常敏感。迄今为止，这项技术的实验尚未成功，因为基因序列无法足够缓慢地穿过隧道电极以区分其碱基。这里的研究将通过修改电泳的几何形状和溶液条件以及可能改进隧道电流检测方法来克服这个问题。通过应用该技术获得的数据有望增强目前对核苷酸碱基化学的理解。该解决方案可以检测具有潜在生物学和医学重要性的核苷酸碱基修饰。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。