The use of chemical agents by enemy forces or terrorists poses a threat to U.S. troops and civilian populations. New countermeasures against nerve agents remain a high priority research and development focus for the Department of Defense. Human butyrylcholinesterase, a bioscavenger that binds nerve agent in the blood stream before it can affect the nervous system, has emerged as a potential new approach to reduce toxicity of chemical warfare nerve agents.
Credit: DARPA
A biological scavenger should have little or no behavioral or physiological side effects, which is an improvement over currently available treatments. Results of preliminary research support recombinant butyrylcholinesterase as a possible next generation of pharmaceuticals to protect warfighters against nerve agent poisoning.
DARPA will host a Proposers’ Day workshop on Jan. 20, 2012, to provide information on the vision of its Butyrylcholinesterase Expression in Plants research effort that seeks to develop and demonstrate that recombinant butyrylcholinesterase can be expressed using a pharmaceutical platform in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. “This project will build on the DARPA Blue Angel H1 influenza vaccine acceleration program and will show the versatility and flexibility of the plant expression platform for medical countermeasures,” said Dr. Alan Magill, DARPA program manager.
The goals of this workshop are to introduce the academic and research communities to this program and its goals, explain the mechanics of a DARPA program and the objectives and milestones of this particular effort, and encourage collaborative arrangements among potential proposers who have the required expertise, facilities and capabilities to conduct research and development in support of this program. Proposers’ Day details are available through the Special Notice located here. Interested researchers should register soon as participation is limited to 45. Deadline for registration is 4:00 p.m. EST Jan. 17.
Contacts and sources:
DARPA
DARPA will host a Proposers’ Day workshop on Jan. 20, 2012, to provide information on the vision of its Butyrylcholinesterase Expression in Plants research effort that seeks to develop and demonstrate that recombinant butyrylcholinesterase can be expressed using a pharmaceutical platform in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. “This project will build on the DARPA Blue Angel H1 influenza vaccine acceleration program and will show the versatility and flexibility of the plant expression platform for medical countermeasures,” said Dr. Alan Magill, DARPA program manager.
The goals of this workshop are to introduce the academic and research communities to this program and its goals, explain the mechanics of a DARPA program and the objectives and milestones of this particular effort, and encourage collaborative arrangements among potential proposers who have the required expertise, facilities and capabilities to conduct research and development in support of this program. Proposers’ Day details are available through the Special Notice located here. Interested researchers should register soon as participation is limited to 45. Deadline for registration is 4:00 p.m. EST Jan. 17.
Contacts and sources:
DARPA
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