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Harvard University has granted Sherlock Biosciences, Inc. an exclusive worldwide license for the development and commercialization of technologies from the Wyss Institute for Biological Inspired Engineering to create an extremely robust nucleic acid-based diagnostic platform. responsive, able to provide fast accurate results and economic range of needs in virtually any context. Called INSPECTR ™, it was created by a team led by Jim Collins, Ph.D., a faculty member of Wyss Core, who is also a Professor of Medical Engineering and Science at MIT. He will be part of Sherlock's platform alongside Broad Institute's SHERLOCK. ™, which is also co-owned and licensed by Harvard University.
Collins is one of nine co-founders of the company, alongside David Walt, Ph.D., badociate professor at Wyss Core, who is also a Hansjörg Wyss professor of biologically inspired engineering at Harvard Medical. School (HMS) and professor at Brigham. and Women's Hospital and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and former Wyss Business Development Manager, Will Blake, Ph.D., who is now Sherlock's Chief Technology Officer.
"Existing molecular diagnostic tools are often of limited effectiveness because they are expensive, labor intensive and non-mobile, and we believe that these technologies are about to overcome these challenges by creating Faster, cheaper and easier to use tests than the molecular diagnostics currently available, "said Walt.
"Tools based on synthetic biology have great potential to transform not only the treatment of diseases, but also the way diseases are diagnosed," said Collins. "We are excited to make a significant difference in the world by putting the power of engineering biology at the service of developing diagnostics and realizing that vision."
INSPECTR, which is an abbreviation for "splint coupling internal expression cbadette translation reaction", consists of a sensor based on DNA hybridization that can be easily programmed to detect nucleic acids. targets (DNA or RNA) based on a unique base pair difference, coupled to a synthetic gene network on paper that translates sensor detection into a bioluminescent signal easily visualized or captured on instant film. Crucially, this process can be performed at room temperature and requires no instrumentation, unlike other methods currently available.
"INSPECTR actually allows us to offer molecular diagnostics where they are not available, because of their high cost or inability to use instruments in such environments," Blake said. "Everything on this planet contains nucleic acids, so having a technology that makes this type of test readily available without sacrificing sensitivity and specificity opens up a wide range of applications, both for human health and beyond. "
INSPECTR's ease of use and broad applicability have made it a natural partner of SHERLOCK, co-developed by the Collins team and many collaborators of the Broad Institute, MIT and the Harvard University, including the CRISPR veteran researcher, Feng Zhang, Ph.D., who led the efforts; the geneticist in computer science Pardis Sabeti, M.D., D. Phil .; and infectious disease expert Deborah Hung, M.D., Ph.D.
SHERLOCK, which stands for "High Specific Sensitivity Specific Enzyme-specific Unlocking," is a CRISPR-based diagnostic tool that can detect genetic "fingerprints" on multiple organisms or types of samples up to one year. the single-digit attomolar scale, which could indicate the presence of viruses. a single molecule of DNA or RNA in a sample. Combined with INSPECTR, this amazing sensitivity could be easily and cost-effectively deployed in a variety of settings, potentially enabling the creation of home test kits (similar to pregnancy tests) for a number of medical and environmental conditions.
Due to the wide range of potentially impactful applications of this technology, the license agreement for INSPECTR, issued by the Harvard Office of Technology Development, includes provisions for global access to promote affordable access to medical technologies with significant public health benefits in low-resource settings.
"INSPECTR and SHERLOCK are powerful platforms in engineering biology that will become ubiquitous because they are not only portable, affordable, simple and better than any other diagnostics element, they will also have an impact tremendous impact on the lives of many people, "said Rahul Dhanda, MBA, President and CEO of Sherlock. "The Wyss Institute's translational research program provides an excellent model for bringing new technology to the people who need it most – it was critical to Sherlock's cross-platform business model."
Sherlock launched $ 35 million in seed funding, including a $ 17.5 million non-dilutive grant and an additional investment from the Open Philanthropy project. The team plans to continue the medical and non-medical applications of its platform, including the detection of substances for which tests do not exist yet.
"We are delighted to have INSPECTR leave the Wyss Institute in the hands of such a great founding team, and is another great example of the success of our Institute Project program, in which we match Residency, relevant applications and industry experience, Sherlock Biosciences is on the verge of potentially saving countless lives and we look forward to following the future success of this groundbreaking diagnostic platform, "said the founding director. from the Wyss Institute, Donald Ingber, MD, Ph.D., also Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at HMS, the Vascular Biology Program at the Boston Children's Hospital and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard.
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