Biological Technologies

Added: May 01, 2014 12:31 pm

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting
innovative research proposals of interest to the Biological Technologies
Office (BTO). Proposed research should investigate leading edge approaches
that enable revolutionary advances in science, technologies, or systems at
the intersection of biology with engineering and the physical and computer
sciences. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in
evolutionary improvements to the existing state of the art. BTO seeks
unconventional approaches that are outside the mainstream, challenge
assumptions, and have the potential to radically change established
practice, lead to extraordinary outcomes, and create entirely new fields.

BTO is seeking novel approaches that will build technical communities that
tap into sources of innovation both inside and outside traditional DoD
performer communities. BTO encourages efforts that are creative and agile
both in terms of the technologies proposed and in the structure of the
approach. BTO is interested in submissions related to the following areas:

. Developing radical new techniques and technologies to optimally
restore and maintain the health and abilities of military service members.
. Discovering and leveraging novel insights from neuroscience,
psychology, cognitive science and related disciplines to advance treatment
and resilience in neurological health and optimize human aptitude and
performance.
. Understanding and improving interfaces between humans and the
physical and biological world to enable optimal performance in complex
environments.
. Developing and leveraging a fundamental understanding of the
underlying design rules that govern biological system behavior.
. Developing new tools and techniques for forward engineering of
biological systems (cells, tissues, organs, and organisms) to both develop
new products and functional systems as well as to gain new insights into
underlying mechanisms.
. Leveraging new computational techniques from computer science, big
data, and biology to enable investigation and generation of knowledge from
biological data at scale.
. Developing and validating new theories and computational models that
identify factors and explain principles underlying collective and
interactive behaviors of biological organisms at all scales from individual
cells to the warfighter to global ecosystems.
. Understanding where there are inflection points in population and
ecosystem behavior in order to preserve equilibrium, provide strategic
opportunity, or avoid catastrophe.
. Developing and leveraging new insights into non-human biology across
and between populations of microbes, plants, marine life, and other
non-human biologic entities.
. Understanding how social, environmental, and biological factors
converge to generate violence and conflict or lead to deterrence and
influence.
. Radical new approaches towards countermeasure development for
biological, chemical and/or radiological threats.
. Other biological technology topic areas which fit the scope of BTO's
mission.

See attached DARPA-BAA-14-38.