Here’s something from DARPA, the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, titled “Living Foundries Industry Day.” The “living foundries” refers to biological systems which can be used to produce whatever, or in the words of the synopsis (copied below), to "transform biology into an engineering practice” and discover “methods for developing and fine-tuning new genetic parts and systems.” And more – direct to source:
https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/DARPA-SN-11-44/listing.html
--posted by Jim Diamond, M.D.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Synopsis:
Added: Jun 03, 2011
Special Notice (SN) DARPA-SN-11-44
SUBJECT:
Living Foundries Industry Day
DATE: June 28, 2011
REGISTRATION DEADLINE:
June 21, 2011
Registration Website: https://safe.sysplan.com/mto/livingfoundries
TECHNICAL POC: Dr. Alicia Jackson, DARPA/MTO
Living
Foundries Industry Day, DARPA-SN-11-44
The Microsystems Technology Office
(MTO) of the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) is sponsoring
an Industry Day for "Living
Foundries," a new DARPA program. The goal of the
Living Foundries program is
to apply an engineering framework to biology to
harness its use as a
technology and drive its advance as a manufacturing
platform. In turning
biological production into an engineering space where
the only limit is the
creativity of the designer, Living Foundries aims to
enable on-demand
production of new and high-value materials, devices and
capabilities for the
Department of Defense and establish a new manufacturing
capability for the
United States.
Because of the multidisciplinary
nature of Living Foundries, DARPA is
looking to engage the wider research
community from fields both outside and
inside the biological sciences to
develop new ideas, approaches and tools to
overcome current limitations and
to create revolutionary capabilities.
Current, primitive examples of
engineering biology rely on an ad hoc,
laborious, trial-and-error process,
wherein one successful project does not
inform subsequent, new designs. This
approach combined with the complexity
of biological systems restricts
current, one-off efforts to modifying only a
small set of genes and
constructing simple, isolated genetic circuits and
metabolic pathways.
Consequently, we are limited to producing only a small
fraction of the
vast number of possible chemicals, materials, and living
systems that would
be enabled by the ability to truly engineer biology.
Through an
engineering-driven approach to biology, Living Foundries aims to
create a
rapid, reliable manufacturing capability where multiple cellular
functions
can be fabricated, mixed and matched on demand and the whole
system
controlled by integrated circuitry, opening up the full space of
biologically
produced materials and systems. Key to success will be the
democratization
of the biological design and manufacturing process, breaking
open the
field to those outside the biological sciences.
In order to achieve the
vision of Living Foundries, new tools, technologies
and methodologies must be
developed to transform biology into an engineering
practice,
decoupling design from fabrication and speeding the biological
design, build,
test cycle. These include: design tools that span from
high-level description
to fabrication in cells; modular genetic parts that
allow a combination of
systems to be designed and reproducibly assembled;
methods for developing and
fine-tuning new genetic parts and systems;
well-understood test platforms,
"cell-like" systems and chassis that readily
integrate new genetic designs in
a predictable fashion; next generation DNA
synthesis and assembly techniques;
and tools that allow for routine system
characterization and debugging, among
others. Further, these technological
advances and innovations must be integrated to
prove-out and push the
boundaries of biological design towards the
ultimate vision of point-of-use,
on-demand, mass-customization biological
manufacturing.
The Industry Day will be held at the Capitol
Conference Center in Arlington,
VA on June 28, 2011. Directions to the
Capital Conference Center can be
found at http://www.thecapitalconferencecenter.com/.
The goals of the Industry Day
are: (a) to introduce the research community
(industry, academia, and
Government) to the Living Foundries vision and
goals; (b) to encourage and
promote teaming arrangements among potential
research organizations that have
the relevant expertise, facilities, and
capabilities for executing research
and development responsive to the Living
Foundries program goals; and (c) to
facilitate interaction between
investigators who may have capabilities to
develop elements of interest and
relevance to the Living Foundries goals. The
Industry Day will include
overview presentations, a poster session to
facilitate interaction and team
building among participants, and an
opportunity to interact and present
capabilities and concepts to government
personnel in closed-door sidebar
sessions.
There is no fee for any
Industry Day activities. Registration is limited by
the venue capacity
(maximum of 100 attendees) and early registration is
strongly recommended.
Organizations are limited to two attendees; however,
in the event that the
Industry Day is oversubscribed, DARPA reserves the
right to limit
participation to 1 attendee per organization. The
registration cutoff date is
June 21, 2011, at noon ET, or once attendance
capacity is met, whichever
comes first. An on-line registration form,
preliminary workshop agenda,
citizenship verification form, foreign national
visit request form, meeting
details, and hotel information for the workshop
can be found at the following
registration website,
https://safe.sysplan.com/mto/livingfoundries. There will be no
on-site
registration.
Posters: Appropriate teaming will be a critical
element in responding to an
anticipated DARPA Living Foundries solicitation.
Industry Day participants
are strongly encouraged to prepare poster abstracts
describing areas of
capabilities in order to facilitate communications,
interactions, and
teaming discussions during the poster session. Poster
abstracts must be
submitted by June 21, 2011, at noon ET. Poster abstracts
must include a
brief (1 page) narrative description of capabilities.
Responders may find
abstract submission guidance at the registration website.
Poster abstracts
submitted in response to the Special Notice will be
considered public
information and will be provided on a public
website.
Sidebars: Attendees who wish to describe their capabilities in a
closed-door
session with government personnel are required to submit an
abstract
describing their research and capabilities using the guidelines
provided
below; there will be a limited number of sessions depending on
schedule,
with each session lasting no more than ten minutes.
Areas of
interest include new tools, technologies and methodologies to
transform
biology into an engineering practice and manufacturing platform,
decouple
biological design from fabrication and speed the biological design,
build,
test cycle. Examples include: design tools that span from
high-level
description to fabrication in cells; modular genetic parts that
allow a
combination of systems to be designed and reproducibly assembled;
methods
for developing and fine-tuning new genetic parts and
systems;
well-understood test platforms, "cell-like" systems and chassis that
readily
integrate new genetic designs in a predictable fashion; next
generation DNA
synthesis and assembly techniques; tools that allow for
routine system
characterization and debugging; and the integration of these
capabilities
for the rapid design and development of new biological systems
and products,
among others.
DARPA appreciates responses from all
capable and qualified sources including
but not limited to universities, university
affiliated research centers, and
private or public companies.
Sidebar
session abstract responses should adhere to the following
instructions:
1.
All submissions must be made electronically (as described below), and be
in
either Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word format.
2. Cover Page (1 page)
a.
Title
b. Organization
c. Responders technical and administrative points of
contact (names, mailing
and e-mail addresses, phone and fax numbers)
3.
Technical Ideas (up to 2 pages of text with up to 4 pages of appended
figures
and diagrams)
a. Executive summary
b. A discussion of the
capability/challenge addressed (from your
perspective) that is key to
realizing the vision of Living Foundries
c. Technical response. Your
discussion should address the following: What is
your proposed innovative
technology/concept? How does it address the
specific capability/challenge
that you identified? What is its improvement
over SOA? What extensions or
advances are needed to achieve the Living
Foundries vision?
4. An optional
list of citations, including URLs, if available.
5. Company brochures and
promotional materials are not of interest.
DARPA will employ an
electronic upload process for response submissions. NO
CLASSIFIED INFORMATION
SHALL BE INCLUDED IN THE SPECIAL NOTICE (SN) ABSTRACT
RESPONSE. Responses to
this SN are due no later than noon ET on June 21,
2011. Responders may find
submission guidance at the registration website.
This SN is issued solely
for information and potential new program planning
purposes; the SN does not
constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or
proposal abstracts, any so
sent will be disregarded. In accordance with FAR
15.201(e), responses to this
notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by
the Government to form a
binding contract. Submission is voluntary and is
not required to propose to
subsequent Broad Agency Announcements (if any) or
research solicitations (if
any) on this topic. DARPA will not provide
reimbursement for costs incurred
in responding to this SN. Respondents are
advised that DARPA is under no
obligation to acknowledge receipt of the
information received, or provide
feedback to respondents with respect to any
information submitted under this
SN.
DARPA intends to publish the Living Foundries BAA prior to the
scheduled
Industry Day. However, DARPA is not obligated to publich the BAA
prior to
conducting the Industry Day or to publich an associated BAA at all.
If and
when published, the BAA will be made available - at a minimum - on
the
Federal Business Opportunies (FBO) website.
Questions regarding
this event may be directed to [log in to unmask].
Please refer to the "Living
Foundries Industry Day" in the subject line.
Contracting Office
Address:
3701 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, Virginia
22203-1714
Primary Point of Contact.:
Dr. Alicia Jackson
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