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Sherlock Biosciences, an engineering biology company dedicated to improving diagnostic testing, its speed and affordability, announced today the launch and initial funding of 35 million of dollars. The funding includes a non-dilutive grant of $ 17.5 million and an investment from the Open Philanthropy Project with the support of undisclosed additional investors.
Sherlock uses engineering biology tools, including CRISPR and Synthetic Biology, to create a new generation of molecular diagnostics that can quickly provide accurate, low-cost results for a wide range of needs in virtually any environment.
Our founders have created some of the most important breakthroughs in modern science through advances in engineering biology, the practice of designing and transforming biological systems into tools that can improve human health, said Rahul K Dhanda, co-founder of Sherlocks, president and CEO. We are building Sherlock to turn these breakthroughs into a new and powerful generation of molecular diagnostics that will enable users to make more efficient decisions in clinical and non-clinical environments around the world, including hospitals, industrial environments, low resources and at home.
The company takes its name from one of its core platform technologies, SHERLOCK ™, which is licensed from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. SHERLOCK was developed by a team led by Sherlocks' co-founder and chairman of the scientific advisory board, Feng Zhang, Ph.D., and collaborators, as a method of identifying specific genetic targets at the same time. CRISPR help. SHERLOCK can detect genetic fingerprints on several organisms or types of samples. It has been described in four articles published in the journal. Science.
The company is also developing INSPECTR ™ (translation reaction of the INternal Splint coupling expression cbadette), a molecular diagnostic platform based on synthetic biology developed by a team led by co-founder James J. Collins, Ph.D. ., at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. The technology, licensed from the Harvards Office of Technology Development, can be programmed to distinguish targets based on a single nucleotide without an instrument at room temperature.
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Used alone or in combination, these platforms allow the detection and quantification of targets without complex instruments and in a variety of potential contexts. The flexibility and modularity of these platform technologies opens up a wide range of potential applications and exploitable insights into areas such as precision oncology, infection identification, food safety , home testing and disease detection in the field.
The company will use a selective partnership strategy and direct product development to apply these technologies to a wide range of settings and applications. Funding will be used to advance development programs and design new trials.
The tools based on engineering biology have great potential to transform not only the treatment of diseases, but also the way diseases are diagnosed, said co-founder, James Collins, Ph.D. Sherlock Biosciences will make a significant difference in the world by leveraging the power of synthetic biology and CRISPR for diagnostic development.
The nine co-founders of the company include CRISPR pioneers, industry veterans and disease experts:
- Rahul K. Dhanda, MBA, President, CEO and Director of Sherlock Biosciences; business leader and veteran of the diagnosis
- Omar Abudayyeh, Ph.D., Innovative CRISPR ResearcherMcGovern Institute, MIT
- James J. Collins, Ph.D., pioneer in synthetic biology, director of Sherlock Biosciences; Professor Termeer of Medical Engineering and Science and Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT; faculty member, Health Sciences and Harvard-MIT Technology; founding faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University; member of the Broad Institute Institute
- Todd Golub, MD, world leader in cancer genomics, founding member, scientific director and director of the Broad Institute's cancer control program; researcher at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School; investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Jonathan Gootenberg, Ph.D., Innovative Researcher CRISPRMcGovern Institute, MIT
- Deborah Hung, M.D., Ph.D., molecular biology and infectious disease specialist; doctor-researcher at the Broad Institute, the Department of Molecular Biology, Mbadachusetts General Hospital, and the Harvard Medical School Genetics Department; co-director of the Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program at the Broad Institute; attending physician, Brigham and Womens Hospital
- Pardis Sabeti, MD, Ph.D., infectious disease specialist and leader in computational genomics Professor, Center for Systems Biology and Department of Biology of Organisms and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University and Department of Immunology and Disease infectious diseases of the Harvard School of Public Health; Institute member of the Broad Institute; investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- David Walt, Ph.D., Recognized Expert in DiagnosticsSherlock Biosciences Director; Scientific founder Illumina; Hansjörg Wyss, biologically inspired engineering professor at Harvard Medical School; Professor of Pathology at Brigham and Womens Hospital; Professor Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Feng Zhang, Ph.D., pioneering researcher CRISPRMcGovern Institute, James and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience at MIT; principal member of the Broad Institute; investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
We believe that Sherlock Biosciences offers a huge opportunity to improve human health around the world by providing fast, accurate and simple diagnostic tests. It is particularly encouraging that the co-founders and a team of veteran scientists, entrepreneurs and clinicians have the same potential, "said Heather Youngs, Program Officer for Scientific Research at the Open Philanthropy Project. The development of this technology could both reduce the threat of a viral pandemic and benefit health care more broadly. We are excited to support Sherlocks' efforts to realize the potential of diagnostics and to propel this technology to the general public.
Our team has the expertise and technology needed to turn diagnostics with a powerful set of engineering biology tools enabling rapid design and deployment of tests, an essential element to meet any challenge. many health care needs, including the growing problem of resistant bacteria, said co-founder Deborah Hung, MD, Ph.D. After the first experiments, our tools were quickly used in a wide range of geographical areas with samples real patients, confirming that we can respond quickly to urgent health needs.
We created Sherlock Biosciences to improve health around the world through the development of molecular disruptive diagnostics. We are excited to have the support of the Open Philanthropy Project and our investors in developing Sherlocks platforms to achieve this goal, "said co-founder Dr. David Walt." Existing molecular diagnostic tools often have limited effectiveness. because they are expensive, use a lot of manpower and are not mobile. We believe that Sherlock is about to meet these challenges by creating tests that are faster, cheaper and easier to use than the molecular diagnostics currently available.
About Sherlock Biosciences
Sherlock Biosciences is dedicated to improving, speeding up and cost-effective molecular diagnostics with technical biology platforms. The company is developing applications for SHERLOCK ™, a CRISPR-based method for detecting and quantifying specific genetic sequences, and INSPECTR.TM, a platform for molecular diagnostics based on synthetic biology without instruments. SHERLOCK and INSPECTR can be used in virtually any environment without complex instrumentation, thus opening a wide range of potential applications in areas such as precision oncology, infection identification, food safety , home testing and field-based disease detection. For more information, visit Sherlock.bio.
Media contact:
Katie Engleman
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[email protected]
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