PFI-TT: High-Yield Production and Processing of Boron Nitride Particles for Biomedical Applications

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is the development of high-brightness probes (HBPs), which will expand the current reagent market size and create new jobs by enabling more researchers to investigate gene detection without high-end fluorescent microscopes. HBPs can also support the development of life-saving vaccines that use messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs). The project has two objectives summarized as follows. The first objective of this project is to increase the production yield of boron nitride particles by 10X to 25X. The second objective is to enhance the yield of the subsequent chemical processing by 5X. Achieving these goals will allow industries to start the initial commercialization of high-brightness probes (HBPs) with a market value of $1M to $10M per year. The proposed research will engage collaboration among three female research scientists and stimulate the research interest of young undergraduate and graduate students who come from diverse backgrounds. The proposed project will offer substantial intellectual merit for genetic research. Researchers can detect each gene molecule by staining with 1 to 18 HBPs without amplification and obtain >10X brighter signals than existing products. Current commercial probes require researchers to stain 30-50 probes per gene molecule. Since HBPs allow the use of fewer probes per gene molecule, HBPs could offer longer probe lengths to increase the detection specificity. The high brightness of HBPs also allows gene detection without amplification and will enhance the quantification accuracy of gene sequences. The existing commercial products involve amplification processes, which consume cost and time and degrade accuracy. Since HBPs eliminate the signal amplification steps, the new probes will reduce the detection cost and time by at least 2-4X. Owing to the high brightness and fewer probe number per gene target, HBPs allow scientists to detect short and rare gene molecules, which is currently impossible with the current technologies. The detection of such rare genes will lead to new biomedical discoveries. Finally, HBPs could increase the image mapping speed by >1000X (X-Y-Z scan: 10x10x10) with enhanced image resolution. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.