Targeted single cell analysis built on one billion years of evolutionary history
DOT’s targeted approach deploys millions of engineered cells to divide and conquer within a suspension. Each cell executes its genetic programming, to recognize, bind, and report the presence of targets. This highly precise process is built on biochemical cascades evolved over one billion years.
Living software for your plate reader.
Diagnostics on Target (DOT®) assays contain dried yeast genetically engineered to perform tasks normally executed by complex instruments. The engineered cells bind to cells in a sample and evaluate their immuno profiles. If a cell matches the targeted profile, the engineered yeast cells exit their dormant state and enter an activated state wherein they produce easily measurable reporter signals.
DOT lets you expand your single cell toolkit, without new instruments. By mixing and matching the types of engineered cells, the user can target new profiles using basic logic gates. For instance, a two-input “AND” gate profile requires two specific antigens to both be present on the bound cell to trigger a positive readout. Measure apoptosis, cell activation, or even enumerate rare cells, all with the same reagents, same protocol, and same equipment you already have. The only thing that changes is the DNA of your software. Keep your lab at the cutting edge of single cell techniques with regular releases of our benchtop kits.
New single cell biomarkers are being discovered every day, but timely translation of those discoveries into practical application is not possible without new technology.
There exists no facility today that can perform meaningful phenome-wide analysis of semi-rare diseases like leukemia in an efficient manner. A study of 100,000 samples performed in a reasonable amount of time would require more instruments than companies sell in a year. And while 100,000 sounds like a lot, chemical analysis of the same magnitude is easily accomplished with routine laboratory instruments.
To validate early biomarkers of rare diseases, large studies are necessary. This is the challenge of preventive healthcare. Even the most effective instruments fall short. Costs of single cell biomarker discovery facilities are plotted above.
The problem is that the current approach dedicates 99.999% of the resources to process material that is informationally uninteresting. DOT provides a biological solution that works in a distributed way extracting only essential information, much like our own immune system. Biological analysis has an unparalleled potential to scale unlike man-made machines.
An elephant is less prone to cancer than a mouse despite having many more cells it must maintain. This is known as Peto’s paradox, and it speaks to the potential of biological systems to scale up information processing.
