SBIR Phase I: Nano-scale Engineering via Grid-scale Computing: Designing, Optimizing and Manufacturing Cancer Therapeutics

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将展示设计一种新的癌症疗法的可行性。它们将由DNA纳米结构构建，这种纳米结构可以通过靶向肿瘤细胞的分子系统和破坏肿瘤细胞的治疗有效载荷来实现功能化。该项目专注于由数千台计算机组成的网格支持的CAD(计算机辅助设计)应用程序，该应用程序解决了DNA纳米技术领域取得进展的主要障碍：计算目标纳米结构的自组装和功能化所需的DNA序列的棘手任务。该开发平台如果成功，将提供一种新的能力，从分子亚组分快速设计和重新设计多功能大分子。该公司将利用这一能力，试图为选定的垂直细分市场创造高价值的纳米产品和相关知识产权。受到制药业早期验证的启发，管理层选择了首先追求癌症治疗市场。然而，这种CAD技术可以应用的领域更广泛。例如，研究小组还设计了洗涤剂添加剂，以改善聚酯和纳米阵列的洗涤，以检测手持生物识别设备中是否存在单核苷酸多态。如果证明可行，这个计算机辅助设计平台将解决许多工业部门的广泛商业机会。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of engineering a new class of cancer therapeutics. They will be constructed from DNA nanostructures that can be functionalized with both molecular systems for targeting tumor cells and therapeutic payloads for their destruction. This project focuses on a CAD (computer-aided design) application, powered by a grid of several thousand computers, that solves what had been the major impediment to progress in the field of DNA nanotechnology: the intractable task of calculating the sequences of DNA required for self-assembly and functionalization of target nanostructures. The development platform, if successful, will provide a novel ability to rapidly engineer and re-engineer multi-functional macromolecules from molecular subcomponents. The company will use this capability in an attempt to create high value nano-products and related intellectual property for select vertical market segment. Inspired by early validation from the pharmaceutical industry, management has chosen to first pursue the cancer therapeutics market. However, the domains to which this CAD technology can apply are broader. For example, the research team has also created designs for detergent additives to improve the laundering of polyester and nanoarrays for detecting the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms for a hand-held biometric device. If proven feasible, this CAD platform will address a wide array of commercial opportunities in many industrial sectors.