Dental implant that inhibits plaque accumulation and gingival tissue inflammation by photobiomodulation therapy delivered by embedded light-emitting diodes (LEDs) powered by electricity generated from the patient’s own oral motion. Problem: More than half of adults will lose one or more teeth in their lifetime. When a patient loses a tooth the...

CRISPR-Cas12a allowing for simultaneous editing of multiple genes in mammalian cells Problem: CRISPR-based gene editing technique has revolutionized the field of molecular biology. While CRISPR-Cas9-based methods are effectively used for single-gene knockout, multiplex gene editing remains a major challenge. Unlike Cas9, Cas12a can be used for multigene...

Novel derivatives of oleic acid effectively inhibiting ferroptosis that could be used for treatment of Friedreich Ataxia, neurodegenerative diseases, and neuropsychiatric diseases. Problem: Ferroptosis is a non-apoptotic form of cell death characterized by the iron-dependent accumulation of toxic lipid-reactive oxygen species. Ferroptosis has been...

A method to rapidly detect the presence of EGFRvIII mutations in cancers and normal tissue using digital PCR. Problem: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a devastating brain cancer with poor prognosis. EGFRvIII is a mutation in the Extracellular Growth Factor Receptor that frequently occurs in GBM tumors. Targeting EGFRvIII mutations is an emerging...

The fully human CAR targets mesothelin, a surface protein overexpressed in several cancer types. P4, a human antibody fragment that binds human mesothelin with high specificity, is fused to T cell signaling domains such as 28z. The T cells engineered to express this CAR are shown to shrink tumors in a mouse model bearing human ovarian tumors overexpressing...