Error-free DNA synthesis for rapid, high-yield production of antibody proteins and sensors built from nucleic acids.

Rapid antibody development for detecting AMR pathogens.

Develop cell-free systems to detect RNA signatures of AMR pathogen susceptibility.

Improve properties such as shelf-life and levels of protein expression of cell-free systems.

Develop cell/tissue models to screen and test anti-AMR interventions in situ.

Improve prediction of AMR-conferring operons and markers, and their risk of transmission between organisms, to inform diagnostic tools.

Models for transforming -omics data to levels of susceptibility and resistance.

Improve identification, prediction, and modeling of characteristic pathways leading to resistance (for example, sequences of genetic changes).

Automate electronic reader systems for cheap and fast sequencing of AMR markers and patient-susceptibility biomarkers.

Gene delivery systems targeted to specific pathogens.

Scaled-up synthesis of high-quality DNA encoding anti-microbial gene circuits.

Develop evolvable therapies (for example, phage therapy that evolves with the microbes).

Rapid design and synthesis of customized, targeted therapeutics (including endonucleases, lysins, endopeptidases, and proteases) for inhibiting pathogenic cell growth.

Engineer a more diverse gut microbiome to prevent potential pathogenicity and increase resistance to gastrointestinal tract infections.

Engineer organisms that can be used to seed the gut microbiome for creating in situ antibiotic products.

Design of cellular features to support successful, non-toxic delivery and stabilization of living therapies in the patient.

Improve prediction of evolution of novel antimicrobial resistance-conferring mutations.

Improve design and prediction of targeted therapeutics.

Develop methods for optimization of treatment strategies that stop or prevent the evolution, emergence, and/or dominance of resistant subpopulations of bacteria.

New tools for editing genes and pathways in insects and livestock that act as disease carriers and reservoirs.

Development of additional, ultra-low-cost animal vaccines, and new vaccines for diseases not currently covered.

Engineer cells of insects and animals that act as disease carriers and reservoirs to attenuate pathogenicity and/or neutralize the pathogen.¹Lane, R. S., & Quistad, G. B. (1998). Borreliacidal Factor in the Blood of the Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis). The Journal of Parasitology, 84(1), 29. View publication.

Develop better models to predict emergence and evolution of antibiotic resistance under complex scenarios.

Improve tools for genetic manipulation of animals.

Engineer microbiomes to resist disease, such as through secretion of antimicrobial substances in situ.

Engineer somatic cells for disease resistance; for example, by altering membrane components known to be points of attachment for certain pathogens, by enhancing immune memory to specific pathogens post-vaccine, or engineering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells for activity against fungal and other pathogens.³Naran, K., Nundalall, T., Chetty, S., & Barth, S. (2018). Principles of immunotherapy: implications for treatment strategies in cancer and infectious diseases. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, 3158. View publication.

Computational identification of genes that confer disease resistance.