SOFWERX’s Post

The Ukrainian military is facing monumental challenges, not least of which is the prospect of getting infected by antibiotic resistant bacteria when wounded. Something US and Allied Servicemembers experienced first hand during OIF and OEF. We continue to harness the power of next generation sequencing (NGS) to help our Ukrainian allies better understand and interrupt the source and transmission routes of these resistant organisms. You can read all about one such collaborative effort below in our just published article at JAC-AMR. All the result of a great collaboration with my friend and colleague in Dnipro, Dr. Dmytro Stepanskyi

Experimentally annotating large swaths of uncharacterized genes in fully sequenced genomes is perhaps the last remaining BIG/GRAND grand challenge connected to sequencing. Structural annotation has advanced but functional has not... Please see this very interesting announcement by Dr. Rene Xavier of DARPA. Do share/forward if of interest to your colleagues: The Discovering Unknome Function (DUF) Advanced Research Concept (ARC) aims to create a systematic approach to gene function discovery (www.darpa.mil/ARC/DUF). DUF ARC funding is available to U.S. and non-U.S. organizations doing research on any cell, virus, or cell-free system to generate high-throughput high-confidence gene function annotations. DUF Abstracts are due by April 5, 2024; any abstract not selected can be revised and resubmitted before this deadline, so submit your abstract early. For more ARC FAQ please visit https://lnkd.in/gzGW9Sbx. Attached is both the DUF ARC Exploration Announcement (DARPA-EA-24-01-02) and postcard for distribution. Please email questions to DUF@darpa.mil.

The Washington Post's recent article describing concerning new details about construction at a former Soviet bioweapons facility, sheds light on why enhanced transparency in bioscience research and development is critical. As the article correctly states: "intelligence officials and biodefense experts say it is impossible to tell from satellite photos whether Russia plans to carry out offensive bioweapons research. A laboratory equipped to study the deadly Ebola virus for vaccine development may appear outwardly identical to one that conducts research on weaponizing the strain.” It is imperative to find solutions to enhance transparency and reduce the risk for misperceptions in beneficial benevolent bioscience R&D, while strengthening the norm against biological weapons.

Honoring Our Veterans！ This Veterans Day, we pause to recognize the incredible sacrifices made by those who’ve served in our nation’s armed forces. Your bravery and dedication remind us of the true cost of freedom. To every veteran—thank you for your courage, your sacrifice, and your commitment. Today and always, we honor you. 🙏 With gratitude and respect, we salute you. 💙❤️ #VeteransDay #GeneEditing #CRISPR #Knock_In #KnockOut #PointMutation #Overexpression #CellLineDevelopment #GeneticResearch #PrecisionMedicine #BiotechInnovation #CustomCellLines #MolecularBiology #ResearchTools #Genomics #EDITGENE #CrisprLibraryScreening

Cotton-in-a-vat, curing genetic diseases at $3.5 million per patient, and the latest in missile technology. Hmmm.... where do our priorities lie? Just some of the stories in the in my latest newsletter. https://lnkd.in/g25VNJym

👋 #BIO2024 Are you attending? Arrange a meeting with our expert Frank Visser and discover how Voxcan, your specialized CRO in non-invasive high-resolution imaging for non-clinical drug development, can support your projects! See you there! Biotechnology Innovation Organization #BioInternationConvention #lifescience #nonclinical #CRO #partnering #drugdevelopment #infectiousdiseases #oncology #osteoarticulardiseases #drugdiscovery

AIM G-NOMES Collaboration Event (CE) is now live! Please request to Attend NLT 19 March 2024 11:59 PM ET https://lnkd.in/e9nMQ_PA  After clicking the link, scroll down to the How You Can Participate header, then go to Step 1 to request to attend. Purpose:  SOFWERX, in collaboration with the USSOCOM, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and the Accelerator for Innovative Minds (AIM) Genomic Non-Specific Operational Matchmaking Enabled Systems (GNOMES) Team, will host a series of events leveraging their hybrid accelerator model to provide awareness of biological agents/compounds in a far forward, resource-limited environment. These events will provide opportunities for direct dialogue with Industry, Academia, Warfighters, and Government Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to lower the barrier to working with the DoD and accelerate disruptive technologies and processing to the field. Objective:  The Chemical and Biological Defense Program’s vision through AIM is to identify capabilities which provide insight of chemical and biological (CB) contested environments. The objective is to develop a system with maximum utility for the warfighter to overcome current limiting factors in providing awareness of biological agents/compounds in a far forward, resource-limited environment. #AIM #GNOMES #hybrid #accelerator #chemical #biological #agents #compounds #Industry #Academia #Warfighter #government 

'High-level sarin often results in death, but studies on survivors have revealed that lower-level sarin exposure can lead to long-term impairment of brain function. The U.S. military has confirmed that chemical agents, including sarin, were detected in Iraq during the Gulf War. In particular, satellite imagery documented a large debris cloud rising from an Iraqi chemical weapons storage site bombed by U.S. and coalition aircraft and transiting over U.S. ground troop positions where it set off thousands of nerve gas alarms and was confirmed to contain sarin.' https://lnkd.in/g2hEu9jn Why I am psychologically and physically ill. The Veterans Affairs has proof that I lack the PON gene that eliminates the nerve agent. As such, I have the worse form of 1991 Gulf War Illnesses. #GulfWarIllness #CombateEngineer #ChemicalEngineer #RetiredLife #FriendOfMIT

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) threats have been a concern not only on the battlefield but at a local level here at home for decades. Having lived through 9/11, we are familiar with the risk magnitude of an attack and the fact that attackers are only limited in method by their imagination. The threat landscape is constantly changing and future threats will not necessarily be linear. We recognize this in the potential for weaponization of pharmaceutical-based agents (PBAs), such as fentanyl, as well as improved access to biological weapons through genome editing, engineered biology, genetic sequencing and other rapidly changing biotechnologies. The threat of an attack using traditional and “off the shelf” methods also persists, including the use of chemical and biological agents against civilian populations. What are the implications for local law enforcement? Source: Police1 https://lnkd.in/eRuwBapj #CBRN #WMD #cbrne #MCI #masscasualty #lawenforcement #police #attack #attacks #prepare #prepared #preparedness #highthreat #threat #threats #PBAs #fentanyl #biological #bioweapons #bioattack #bioterrorism #chemical #nationalsecurity #homelandsecurity #terrorism #extremism

🆕 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗴: 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘆 (𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗺) 𝗦𝗺𝗼𝗸𝗲𝘀! 𝟱 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗫 🆕 Did you know that 33 nations are already utilizing ChemProX early warning handheld chemical detector, from which 20 are NATO member states? In this short new blog article Product Manager of Handheld Chemical Detection Mika Saarinen shares his vision on ChemProx's path throughout the last 5 years (since its launch). Would you like to read the full article? Find the link from the comments section 👇👇👇 #CBRN #CBRNe #ChemProX #ChemicalDetection #NATO #ChemicalDetector #CWA #ToxicChemicals #TIC