SBIR Phase I: Thermostable Reverse Transcriptases for Single Enzyme RT-PCR

SBIR 第一阶段：用于单酶 RT-PCR 的热稳定逆转录酶

• 批准号: 0839404
• 负责人: Thomas Schoenfeld
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: LUCIGEN CORPORATION
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-01-01 至 2009-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0839404&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Thermostable; Reverse; Transcriptases

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to improve the reliability of widely used methods for detecting and measuring trace amounts of RNA (genetic material actively made by cells and contained within certain viruses). Most current methods for detecting RNA use two different enzymes; one to convert RNA to DNA and a second to generate billions of copies by PCR amplification. This two enzyme approach has serious problems (e.g., additional manipulations, cross contamination, uneven amplification of certain genes, inaccurate amplification, and low efficiency). Alternative enzymes have been discovered and characterized at Lucigen that efficiently perform both conversion of RNA to DNA and amplification in a single reaction. However, these need to be more fully developed and characterized to replace existing methods. These candidates and others in our collection will be developed and compared to available enzymes in Phase I. Those that are superior to current enzymes will be developed for commercialization in Phase II. The broader impacts of this research include substantial cost savings in biotechnology research, increased accuracy of data, and improved reliability of diagnostic tests. Nearly $1 billion is spent annually on detecting RNA targets, and this amount is growing rapidly. This type of research is strictly dependent on the available enzymes and is compromised by their deficiencies. Improved enzymes to be developed in this SBIR project promise to greatly improve basic research, diagnostics, and drug development, and will have an important impact on human health, agriculture, and research in microbial diversity.

小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在提高广泛使用的检测和测量微量RNA（由细胞主动产生并包含在某些病毒中的遗传物质）方法的可靠性。目前大多数检测RNA的方法使用两种不同的酶;一种将RNA转化为DNA，另一种通过PCR扩增产生数十亿个拷贝。这种双酶方法具有严重的问题（例如，额外的操作、交叉污染、某些基因的不均匀扩增、不准确的扩增和低效率）。在Lucigen已经发现并表征了替代酶，其在单个反应中有效地进行RNA至DNA的转化和扩增。 然而，这些方法需要得到更充分的发展和特点，以取代现有的方法。这些候选酶和我们收集的其他酶将被开发，并与第一阶段可用的酶进行比较。那些上级于现有酶的酶将在第二阶段进行商业化开发。这项研究的更广泛的影响包括生物技术研究的大量成本节约，数据的准确性提高，诊断测试的可靠性提高。每年花费近10亿美元用于检测RNA靶点，而且这一数字还在迅速增长。这种类型的研究严格依赖于可用的酶，并受到其缺陷的影响。在SBIR项目中开发的改良酶有望大大改善基础研究，诊断和药物开发，并将对人类健康，农业和微生物多样性研究产生重要影响。