Outpacing Infectious Disease
Abstract
The Outpacing Infectious Disease thrust will investigate fundamental methods for using biology as a technology to create adaptive therapeutic response mechanisms to outpace viruses and bacteria. Today, protective measures such as antibiotics and vaccines are often circumvented by fast-mutating viruses and bacteria that evolve to create new methods for pathogenicity. New approaches, such as enabling co-evolution and co-transmission of newly developed therapeutics to ultimately outcompete the pathogen, are needed to utilize the power of evolution in vaccine and antibiotic design. Key advances expected from this research include identifying methods to discover and develop new classes of dynamic therapeutics for fast-mutating viruses and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, as well as recurrent chronic diseases. This approach represents a significant departure from conventional antibacterial and antiviral therapies, which typically rely on static solutions and continuous re-formulation and re-development in attempt to keep pace with emerging strains and disease variants. Advances in this area may be applied to the mitigation of known, new, or emerging disease.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2017
- Source ID
- 02ae37aa9dfe3ee469ce6ab752fb3a69