Security

Defending people against threats and attacks Security

Bioterrorism, nuclear terrorism, cyberterrorism, or the accidental or intentional import of exotic diseases are not the kinds of things we like to think about. Yet there’s no doubt that as a nation we must be prepared. Ensuring our troops have the technologies they need in the field to monitor and respond to threats is also a focus of our work at the Biodesign Institute.

Our researchers are equipping the medical and defense communities with the tools they need to monitor public health, improve early diagnostics and determine the best possible methods of treatment. Across the world, scientists are fighting a battle against new classes of infectious diseases and other biological threats. The ASU Biodesign Institute is operating on the front lines of that battle.

Evolving computer security

Biodesign Institute researchers are applying biological concepts to computer technologies to improve cybersecurity and solve software engineering problems. For example, they are using evolutionary computation tools to automatically fix software bugs and enhance security. And they are applying lessons learned from our immune systems to invent new cybersecurity solutions.

Featured capabilities:

• Developing technologies to rapidly assess radiation absorption in individuals, which could save thousands of lives in the event of a nuclear incident.

• Creating self-repairing software inspired by immune systems.

• Advancing electrochemical microscopy, the foundation for major technologies such as batteries, fuel cells, chemical sensors, biological sensors, and methods of chemical analysis and corrosion prevention.

• Monitoring wastewater to enable public health organizations to localize the source of an outbreak and take action to combat its spread.