Award Data

DNA microarray technology, in combination with statistical and predictive modeling tools, could be used to evaluate thousands of genes against distinct gene expression patterns induced by chemical/biological agents to provide early identification and speed therapeutic intervention. The overall objective of this Phase II effort is to leverage existing public domain resources and commercial tools t ...

Protein manufacturing is of paramount importance to chemical and biological defense applications. Existing protein purification methods primarily rely on synthetic-resin based chromatography, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, expensive, and consequently, ill-suited for developing rapid countermeasures to chemical and biological threats. To overcome these limitations, the overall goal of th ...

Safe and efficient ionization and filtration technology compatible to biodefense applications is of paramount importance. Current ionization methods are energy-intensive, costly, prone to ozone generation, or inefficient, and consequently ill-suited for building protection applications. To overcome these limitations, we propose to develop and demonstrate a novel bioaerosol ionization and collectio ...

Future military engagements may involve use of toxic chemical threats such as chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, even pharmaceutical based agents. With their exceptional ability to sense and locate hazardous chemicals, military working dogs are an important asset for protection of personnel and can be deployed in response to a chemical event. Canines face significant danger if ex ...

Elevated levels of human butyrylcholinesterase (hBuChE) confer protection from chemical warfare nerve agents and other organophosphorous chemicals. As a prophylactic, the key to enabling this protection is the ability to maintain elevated concentrations of hBuChE in the plasma for days or weeks. Thus far, plasma-derived hBuChE and PEGylated recombinant forms of BuChE (rBuChE) have been tested in ...

Effective collective protection fabrics must have a reliable closure system. During our Phase I Work Plan, Sigma-K began developing a Hermetic Textile Closure Hardware (HATCH) system. The HATCH combines both a magnetic and geometric self locking mechanism that will provide a hermetic seal when closed. Our current Phase I successes include developing self closing samples that can provide a hermetic ...

GeneCapture, Inc. is developing a novel, portable and rapid direct infection diagnostic with applications for Warfighter health and readiness. This innovative Sample-to-Answer technology can screen a human sample for many pathogens simultaneously and withstand the rigors of shipping to low resource or restricted areas. It is designed to be easy to use by available personnel. The solution is based ...

Hook and loop closures in Army uniforms have been identified as the critical sources of leaks in protective clothing/equipment, which limits the overall protective capability of the ensemble. We demonstrated during Phase I of this project that we can design and fabricate hybrid closure systems which incorporate areas of microfiber adhesive arrays inspired by the foot-hairs found on geckos which ha ...

By continuing teaming up with one of the most reputable university teams in THz science and technology, ArkLight proposes to carry out the tasks set for a Phase-II program following our success in Phase I. We are aimed at the further development of novel spectrometers to analyze chemicals in the vapor phase based on accurate measurements of the emission and absorption spectra due to the molecular ...

Many believe the greatest threat to our troops and homeland security are attacks using biological weapons. Recent developments of biological warfare agents parallel advances in microbiology, viruses and bacteria can be rendered more lethal through genetic engineering, and many toxins can be mass-produced. However, detecting biological agents is difficult and time consuming because there are thousa ...