USA flag logo/image

An Official Website of the United States Government

Origami Antibodies for Threat Sensing

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Defense 		Branch:
Army 		Award ID:
 Program Year/Program:
2011 / STTR
Agency Tracking Number:
A11A-021-0220 		Solicitation Year:
2011 		Solicitation Topic Code:
A11a-T021 		Solicitation Number:
2011.A
Small Business Information
Parabon NanoLabs, Inc.
11260 Roger Bacon Drive Suite 406 Reston, VA 20190
View profile »
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 1
Fiscal Year: 2011
Title: Origami Antibodies for Threat Sensing
Agency / Branch: DOD / ARMY
Contract: W911NF-11-C-0269
Award Amount: $100,000.00
 

Abstract:

Beginning from an advanced stage of development, this Phase I STTR project will produce designs and prototypes for a ricin-specific artificial antibody constructed using DNA origami. These novel constructs will provide both a capture function (mimicking the properties of an antibody) and intrinsic electro-optical reporting functionality, a significant improvement over current antibody capability. Accordingly, they will prove a compelling substitute for antibodies in a wide variety of applications, beginning with ELISA-like field tests for threat sensing, but generalizable to all current antibody applications. Phase I includes two experimental thrusts. The first involves the design and characterization of constructs that demonstrate control of important physical properties, including size, shape, charge and relative hydrophobicity; the second is the development and demonstration of a synthetic construct to capture and report optically the threat agent ricin. These efforts will lead to specifications for enhancements to Parabons existing origami design automation software, specifically for the creation of artificial antibodies. Such enhancements are essential for computing optimal placement of capture and response elements, and displaying surface charge and relative hydrophobicity profiles. Phase II objectives will include development of artificial antibodies with more complex electro-optical reporting mechanisms and implementation of the software specifications developed in Phase I.

Principal Investigator:

Michael Norton
Professor
(304) 696-6627
norton@marshall.edu

Business Contact:

Paula Gawthorp-Armentrout
Corporate Secretary
(703) 689-9689
paula@parabon.com
Small Business Information at Submission:

Parabon NanoLabs, Inc.
11260 Roger Bacon Drive Suite 406 Reston, VA -

EIN/Tax ID: 262194625
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees:
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
Research Institution Information:
Marshall University
401 11th Street
Suite 1400
Huntington, WV 25701-
Contact: John M. PhD
Contact Phone: (304) 696-3468