To prepare for threats of bioweapons and emerging infectious diseases, Sandia is developing technologies to detect and diagnose known and unknown pathogens. Our rapid, automated, point-of-care system (RapiDx) measures disease and toxin biomarkers in microscopic volumes of blood, saliva, or urine, resulting in time-critical presymptomatic diagnostic information.
Biosciences and biotechnology represent a major area of focus at Sandia. Sandia’s Bioscience Research Foundation was created in response to emerging national needs in homeland security—protecting our nation and troops from biological threats—and energy security—preserving our nation’s economic well-being and military strength by reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
We believe that a deep understanding of biological systems and the ability to predict their behaviors will play key roles in energy security, the protection of our environment, and our nation’s ability to defend against biothreats. Consequently, Sandia’s biological scientists are conducting research in two strategic thrust areas—biodefense and biofuels—so that we can provide biological solutions to important problems in homeland and energy security.
Our efforts span a broad spectrum of research and development, including fundamental research in understanding biological phenomena and applied R&D to develop point-of-care health and medical devices, as well as next-generation biofuels from cellulosic biomass and algae feedstock.
To tackle issues of national importance, our bioscience staff members draw upon powerful research tools at the interface of the physical, computational, and biological sciences. Building on corporate strengths in nanoscience, high-performance computing, chemical imaging, microsystems, and the modeling and simulation of complex systems, Sandia has created and maintained world-class capabilities in biochemical imaging, computational biology, microbiology and cellular signaling, and bioassemblies.
Our staff members also have access to our multiple bioscience facilities, which are equipped with state-of-the-art research tools and instruments.
To protect our nation from biological attacks, Sandia researchers are studying the interaction of immune cells with pathogens at single-cell resolution. Left: A macrophage in late-stage infection with the bacterium Franciscella novicida. Right: A microchip used to study cellular signaling in macrophages infected with bacteria.
Sandia’s Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases (BEID) Program helps the nation anticipate and defend against biological threats, such as biological weapons and emerging infectious diseases. Our work integrates advanced technologies with a deep understanding of the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis and host–pathogen interactions—especially the human immune response. In addition to investigating the fundamentals of pathogenesis, our scientists are developing assays, novel materials, and platforms for detecting pathogens and discovering therapeutic targets. Sandia researchers are also exploring the public-health implications of interrelationships between the human microbiome and infectious disease.
Our efforts range from basic research investigating host–pathogen interactions and virulence mechanisms in pathogens to applied research that is developing point-of-care clinical diagnostic devices, portable detectors for biological agents, high-throughput screening techniques for therapeutic targets, and proteomic platforms for biomarker discovery and validation.
Sandia’s biodefense research has been funded by the Laboratory Directed Research & Development Program, as well as by external sponsors such as the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and commercial entities. Below are a few examples of Sandia’s biodefense work. More examples of Sandia’s biological investigations can be found at Sandia’s biosciences website.
A unique lab-on-a-chip tool, MICA enables researchers to precisely target, sort, and measure samples as small as a single cell in an automated system that includes flow cytometry.
The future of biological research lies in understanding both the actions of single cells and the interactions of these cells with their environments. Sandia researchers have created an integrated platform for single-cell manipulation and cellular-signaling interrogation. Called Microscale Immune and Cell Analysis (MICA), this platform offers experimenters the ability to understand cell behavior at the molecular and cellular levels with unprecedented speed, resolution, sensitivity, and multiplexing. MICA will lead to discoveries in innate immunity and host–pathogen interactions at the molecular level.
Unlike other lab-on-a-chip platforms, MICA helps researchers target, sort, and measure samples as small as a single cell in a precise, automated system that incorporates flow cytometry. And because MICA is based on microfluidics, MICA enables biological measurements that are impossible at a conventional scale.
MICA has already proven its value in a major Sandia research program that is investigating the response of immune cells to pathogens. When fully developed as a research tool, the MICA platform may enable scientists to integrate experimentation on myriad cell types, thereby providing a systems understanding of multiple cellular mechanisms that have long eluded researchers.
Sandia’s rapid, automated point-of-care system (RapiDx) is a portable diagnostic instrument. RapiDx quickly measures disease and toxin biomarkers in human biological samples (e.g., blood, saliva, urine) at the earliest stages of infection, resulting in time-critical presymptomatic diagnostic information. RapiDx is an ideal instrument for point-of-care diagnostics of disease and toxin detection in health clinics and on the field.
Detecting protein signatures of disease before symptoms appear is crucial for early intervention and is typically much more effective—and less costly—than late-stage treatments, especially for cancer, infectious disease, and biotoxin exposure. RapiDx represents the new diagnostics paradigm that focuses on preemptive detection of disease, rather than reactionary, postsymptomatic approaches.
RapiDx has been used to detect subpicomolar concentrations of biotoxins and infectious disease agents, oral or periodontal disease biomarkers, inflammation and immune response, and biomarkers for monitoring astronaut health. The device has the potential to provide early detection of other diseases, including prostate and other cancers, traumatic brain injuries, and cardiac injuries. In addition, if a crowd is exposed to dangerous biotoxins, the exposed population can be rapidly triaged with RapiDx for timely treatment—critical in such an event—while conserving valuable health resources and saving lives.