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Automated Approaches to Cellular Engineering and Biomanufacturing

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Contract: D13PC00038
Agency Tracking Number: D12B-003-0037
Amount: $99,997.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: STTR
Solicitation Topic Code: ST12B-003
Solicitation Number: 2012.B
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2012
Award Year: 2013
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2013-01-28
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2013-07-27
Small Business Information
1120 Atlantis Ave
Lafayette, CO -
United States
DUNS: 078418285
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Brent Lutz
 President and CEO
 (352) 328-4444
 blutz@covitect.com
Business Contact
 Brent Lutz
Title: President and CEO
Phone: (352) 328-4444
Email: blutz@covitect.com
Research Institution
 University of Florida
 Rosyln Heath
 
339 Weil Hall PO Box 116550
Gainesville, FL 32611-
United States

 (352) 392-9447
 Nonprofit College or University
Abstract

Genome-scale predictable cellular design and engineering of biomanufacturing systems is the overarching a goal of DARPA's Living Foundry thrust and, if realized, will enable rapid engineering of living biosystems for a broad range of applications in biotechnology and pharmacology. However, constructing living cells with designed genome is not fully automated and is severely limited by inherent challenges in engineering biological systems replicability and reproducibility - which are lagging behind due to a vast diversity of the complex networks of bioreactions involved. Parameters of such reactions (reaction pathways and kinetics) need to be established for targeted environments in order to achieve robust predictability of transfer functions in the living foundry design. To achieve such predictability, Covitect and its partners propose to use array of multiplexed in-vitro membrane-microreactors interfaced with assays, which emulate cell environment and allow the rapid study of complex reaction networks in a controlled environment with excellent reproducibility, high throughput and low cost. The end goal of the proposed effort is to develop an automated in-vitro synthetic biology analysis toolset for establishing parameters (i.e,"transfer functions"in the Living Foundry terms) of a large number of bioreactions that will enable predictable and reproducible cellular design and engineering.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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