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This is a broad portfolio that includes all aspects of life sciences. Some of the representative areas are bioengineering (brain computer interface, chips to grow and monitor cellular activities, and bioprinting), vaccines and therapeutics (nanolipoprotein particles for the delivery of vaccines and drugs, carbon nanotubes for drug delivery, KRAS inhibitors, and anti-bacterial minerals), medical diagnostics (molecular diagnostics, point-of-care testing, imaging, and forensic), life science instrumentation (PCR instruments, rapid PCR, fluid partitioning, microfluidics, and biosensors), and methods for the extraction and purification of rare earth elements using lanmodulin and other natural/synthetic bacterial proteins.

Portfolio News and Multimedia

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Innovation and Partnerships Office employee wins second national award

Following a Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) award win in April, Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) has received its second national recognition for collaborations surrounding the biomedical technology called nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs).

Yash Vaishnav, a business development executive within the Innovation and Partnerships Office (IPO), was recognized by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Technology Transfer Working Group (TTWG) at its Spring Meeting, May 14-15, in Washington, D.C., for his work in negotiating the licensing agreement for LLNL’s NLP technology to EVOQ Therapeutics (EVOQ) — winning TTWG’s “Best in Class” award for licensing.

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LLNL and BridgeBio announce trials for supercomputing-discovered cancer drug

In a substantial milestone for supercomputing-aided drug design, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics (BridgeBio) today announced clinical trials have begun for a first-in-class medication that targets specific genetic mutations implicated in many types of cancer.

LLNL Innovation and Partnerships Office (IPO) Business Development Executive Yash Vaishnav negotiated the CRADA with BridgeBio subsidiary Theras, as well as the license agreement for the drug candidate with BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics. Vaishnav also manages the intellectual property portfolio of KRAS inhibitors developed under the CRADA and the relationship with his counterparts at BridgeBio. 

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A-Alpha Awarded Additional $14.5M from the DOD to Accelerate Antibody Discovery and Optimization for Likely Biothreats

Funding from the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) will expand A-Alpha's partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in support of the Generative Unconstrained Intelligent Drug Engineering (GUIDE) program. This announcement follows two years of successful collaboration between A-Alpha and LLNL – beginning with coronaviruses and expanding to multiple undisclosed pathogen families of concern – in which A-Alpha’s AlphaSeq data has been used to train ML models that predict antibody-antigen binding. 

To learn more, see today’s press release here and coverage in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.

Life Sciences, Biotech, and Healthcare Technologies

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Stock image of brain and electronic interface

LLNL researchers have designed and developed a novel high-density, high-channel count 3D connector that enables hundreds or thousands of nonpermanent connections within a compact footprint. The connector addresses limitations of currently used conventional approaches that were described previously, which have an artificial ceiling on the number of recording sites of modern devices of no more…

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Novel Protein-based Method for REE Separation

As an important step toward overcoming the technical and environmental limitations of current REE processing methods, the LLNL team has patented and demonstrated a biobased, all-aqueous REE extraction and separation scheme using the REE-selective lanmodulin protein. Lanmodulin can be fixed onto porous support materials using thiol-maleimide chemistry, which can enable tandem REE purification…

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REE and actinide aqueous samples, pictured under UV light

LLNL researchers have discovered that some inexpensive and commercially available molecules used for other applications, could render certain lanthanide and actinide elements highly fluorescent. These molecules are not sold for applications involving the detection of REEs and actinides via fluorescence. They are instead used as additives in cosmetic products and/or in the pharmaceutical…

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Schematic of high density detachable electrical interfaces with a single layer

Many of the disadvantages of current interface devices can be overcome with LLNL’s novel interface design, which relies on area array distribution where independent interface connector subassemblies are positioned in a planar grid.  Not only is the interface device expandable area-wise (without increasing contact force), but it could also be expanded height-wise, with multiple layers of…

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Immunoproteomic workflow to identify antigenic peptides.

LLNL’s high throughput method involves proteome-wide screening for linear B-cell epitopes using native proteomes isolated from a pathogen of interest and convalescent sera from immunized animals.

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Flexible optoelectronic chip with integrated transmitter and receiver subassemblies

Commercial fiber optic cables are the current standard for carrying optical signals in industries like communications or medical devices. However, the fibers are made of glass, which do not have favorable characteristics for applications that require flexibility and re-routing, e.g. typically brittle, limited selection of materials, dimension constraints.

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Mycobacterium tuberculosis

LLNL researchers have developed a high-volume, low-cost diagnostic test that is easy to use and provides results in under an hour. The testing platform will provide emergency responders and other medical professionals with the ability to screen individuals using oral and nasal samples, and obtain results in approximately 30 minutes. This point-of-care testing approach will enable rapid triage…

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Autonomous detection, Bio watch, airborne detection

LLNL scientists have created a standalone pathogen identifier that can be placed in public settings, such as in stores or on street corners. Not unlike an ATM in physical size, this kiosk will accept biological samples from an individual for multiplexed analysis. The sample collection process will be sufficiently simple such that anyone could begin the diagnostic process after making the…

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biosecurity petri dish

LLNL researchers have invented a system for identifying all known and unknown pathogenic or non-pathogenic organisms in a sample. This invention takes a complex sample and generates droplets from it. The droplets consist of sub-nanoliter volume reactors which contain the organism sized particles. A lysis device lyses the organisms and releases the nucleic acids. An amplifier then magnifies the…

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blue bacteria

This LLNL-developed invention is multiplexed and utilizes the Luminex bead-based liquid array, which contains 100 different unique beads. Oligonucleotide probes with sequences complementary to the target sequences are covalently coupled to these unique beads. These capture beads are mixed with viral samples obtained from the patient via cheek swabbing or a throat wash and subjected to PCR in a…

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Corona virus

LLNL researchers have developed a method to quickly and accurately identify the family of a virus infecting a vertebrate via PCR. Universal primer sets consisting of short nucleic acid strands of 7 to 30 base pairs in length were created to amplify target sequences of viral DNA or RNA. These primers can amplify certain identifying sequences of all viral genomes sequenced to date as well as…

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passive flow lateral device

LLNL researchers have developed a portable device which analyzes one or multiple types of body fluids or gases to test for one or more medical conditions. A bodily fluid (such as blood, perspiration, saliva, breath, or urine) is put into a condenser surface and is then separated into both a primarily gas fluid component and a second one that is primarily liquid. These two samples from the same…

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Cow

LLNL scientists have developed a high-confidence, real-time multiplexed reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) rule-out assay for foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV). It utilizes RT-PCR to amplify both DNA and RNA viruses in a single assay to detect FMDV as well as rule out other viruses that cause symptoms in livestock indistinguishable from those caused by FMDV, such as Bovine Herpes Virus-1 (…

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Retina

LLNL scientists have developed a method to ensure the accuracy of that tomographic image by applying adaptive optics (AO) to OCT in a single instrument (AO-OCT). AO stabilizes the image being captured by the OCT device by utilizing a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor and a deformable mirror, a type of mirror designed to compensate for detected waveform abnormalities (such as ones caused by a…

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image_of_the_device

LLNL scientists have developed a battery-powered device which is low-cost and multi-chambered for the extraction and amplification of nucleic acids from environmental, clinical, and laboratory samples via loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). This platform identifies pathogenic bacteria and assists in determining the optimal treatment plan. A multi-chamber amplification cartridge in…

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DNA

LNLL scientists have invented a method for multiplexed detection of PCR amplified products which can be completed in a single step. Highly validated species-specific primer sets are used to simultaneously amplify multiple diagnostic regions unique to each individual pathogen. Resolution of the mix of amplified products is achieved by PCR product hybridization to corresponding probe sequences,…

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iChip, brain on a chip

LLNL has developed a brain-on-a-chip system with a removable cell-seeding funnel to simultaneously localize neurons from various brain regions in an anatomically relevant manner and over specific electrode regions of a MEA. LLNL’s novel, removable cell seeding funnel uses a combination of 3D printing and microfabrication that allows neurons from select brain regions to easily be seeded into…

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nanolipoprotein particles

LLNL has developed a novel process of production, isolation, characterization, and functional re-constitution of membrane-associated proteins in a single step. In addition, LLNL has developed a colorimetric assay that indicates production, correct folding, and incorporation of bR into soluble nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs).

LLNL has developed an approach, for formation of NLP/…

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Retina

Using various excitation wavelengths, a hyperspectral microscope takes advantage of autofluorescence and polarized light scattering from cellular components to obtain composite images that highlight their presence. The light collection efficiency is maximized to achieve image acquisition times and rates suitable for in vivo applications.