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Name of Submitter:
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Kristala Jones Prather
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Title of proposed idea:
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A generalized approach towards real-time in vivo metabolite biosensors
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What is the major obstacle/challenge in the biomedical research field? What is needed to overcome this obstacle/challenge?
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As the "omics" revolution has evolved, it has become fairly routine to measure (and sequence) nucleotides. Methods for identifying and quantifying the proteome of a cell, though technically more challenging than DNA and RNA, have also advanced significantly. As attention has shifted towards the 'metabolome,' existing methods for real-time, in situ measurement of metabolites are severely limited. New methods are needed that do not require quenching (which raises questions about the true metabolic state of the sample) or extraction (which invariably leads to mass loss). |
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What emerging scientific opportunity is ripe for investment by the Common Fund?
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The opportunity (and challenge!) here is to develop a 'generalized' platform that would facilitate the real-time, in situ (in vivo) measurement of cellular metabolites. Advances in synthetic biology, in which a design-based approach is implemented to bias a desired, pre-determined outcome should facilitate work in this regard. |
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What are the potential Common Fund investments that could accelerate scientific progress in this field?
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support for both the general framework but also (and more importantly) coordination to bring together those in the community pursing (i) alternative (and currently limited) approaches towards sensor design and (ii) researchers from multiple fields interest in issues pertinent to metabolism and associated measurements |
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If a Common Fund program on this topic achieved its objectives, what would be the impact?
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The impact of success could be measured on two fronts. From a basic biomedical science perspective, such sensors could enhance the understanding of metabolic differences of tissue types, especially between the diseased and healthy state, and in response to perturbations that are important for human health. On the second front, such sensors would be extremely useful for properly understanding and modulating metabolic flux in natural product-producing microbes or in microbial production systems that have been engineered to produce therapeutics. |
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