Protecting human health Biologists, chemists, engineers, data scientists and other top experts unite at the Biodesign Institute in their common drive to determine what causes disease, create technology that leads to early detection, discover treatments to prevent problems altogether and optimize health overall.
Detecting gene mutations before they cause harm A typo appearing in the draft of a novel is no great calamity. Nature, however, is often less forgiving of errors. A change in just one letter of the genetic code — known as a point mutation — can have catastrophic consequences for human health. Biodesign researchers have developed a new method for detecting point mutations that offers promise for accurate early diagnosis and better treatment options. The technique can be applied to living cells, offering a rapid, highly accurate and inexpensive means of identifying health-threatening mutations.
Cornering a prolific killer Tularemia is a rare but often lethal disease. It is caused by one of the most aggressive pathogens on earth, the bacterium Francisella tularensis, which also poses a bioterror risk. The microbe, transported by a variety of animals and insects, enters and attacks the body through a range of pathways, causing different constellations of symptoms and severity. Biodesign researchers have examined a key membrane protein responsible for the bacterium’s prodigious ability to infect the body and cause illness. This virulence factor has been visualized in unprecedented detail with the aid of an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL), a massive and powerful instrument able to reveal biomolecules like proteins with astonishing clarity. Their work is a first step toward developing effective treatments for tularemia.
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