Launched in 2010, DARPA's Living Foundries program aimed to enable adaptable, scalable, and on-demand production of critical, high-value molecules by programming the fundamental metabolic processes of biological systems to generate a vast number of complex molecules. These molecules were often prohibitively expensive, unable to be domestically sourced, and/or impossible to manufacture using traditional synthetic chemistry approaches. As a proof of concept, DARPA intended to produce 1,000 molecules and material precursors spanning a wide range of defense-relevant applications including industrial chemicals, fuels, coatings, and adhesives.

Divided into two parts - Advanced Tools and Capabilities for Generalizable Platforms (ATCG) and 1000 Molecules - the Living Foundries program succeeded not only in meeting its programmatic goals of producing 1000 molecules as a proof-of-concept, but pivoted in 2019 to expand program objectives to working with military mission partners to test molecules for military applications. The performer teams collectively have produced over 1630 molecules and materials to-date, and more importantly, DARPA is transitioning a subset of these technologies to five military research teams from Army, Navy, and Air Force labs who partnered with the agency on testing and evaluation over the course of the program.

"Biologically-produced molecules offer orders-of-magnitude greater diversity in chemical functionality compared to traditional approaches, enabling scientists to produce new bioreachable molecules faster than ever before," noted Dr. Anne Cheever, Living Foundries program manager. "Through Living Foundries, DARPA has transformed synthetic biomanufacturing into a predictable engineering practice supportive of a broad range of national security objectives."

The Living Foundries teams used a range of technologies and strategies to address significant synthetic biology challenges as outlined below:

+ The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) team led by Dr. Ben Harvey in collaboration with Amyris, Inc. and Zymergen developed tools and technologies for producing high-performance chemicals and materials useful in a variety of military applications. NAWCWD converted precursor molecules into high energy density fuels, energetic materials, thermostable polymers, and high-performance composites. These technologies will be further developed through the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Bioengineering and Biomanufacturing Program, the ONR Advanced Energetics Manufacturing Pipeline, The Wright Brothers Institute/AFRL Synthetic Biology Challenge, and the Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem (BioMADE).

+ United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) team (Drs. Greg Peterson, Jared DeCoste, and Vipin Rastogi) are developing filters, fabrics, and decontaminating wipes to combat chemical and biological weapons agents using biologically templated materials from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This technology will undergo further testing and development at DEVCOM CBC as part of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency multifunctional material program.

+ Air Force Research Laboratory's Materials and Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL RX) team, led by Drs. Nick Godman and Tod Grusenmeyer, produced laser eye protection goggles using bio-derived molecules developed by Zymergen. This technology will be transferred to the Personnel Protection Team in AFRL RX for testing and evaluation.

+ AFRL Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL RQ) team (Drs. Oscar Ruiz, Don Phelps, and Paul Wrzesinski) is testing fuels developed by NAWCWD using biologically produced molecules from Amyris, Inc. for use in military aircraft and will work with the Navy on additional development efforts.

+ DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory team (Drs. Joshua Orlicki, Anthony Clay, John La Scala, and Robert Jensen) formulated adhesives for evaluation to potentially attach armor to vehicles and polymers for 3D printing applications using technologies developed by Amyris and Zymergen. ARL will continue development of these technologies.

"Several biologically produced molecules within the 1000 Molecules Program have intriguing molecular characteristics for development of advanced polymers," noted John La Scala, Chief of the Manufacturing Sciences and Technology Branch at DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory. "These unique compounds have potential for use in durable adhesives for armor and other ground vehicle structural applications and high-performance composites for aircraft and missile applications."

All of these technologies transitioned to the military branch they support, and at least one spin-off company has been launched for bio-templated materials for batteries and chemical filtration. Additional industrial partnerships are still being considered in the areas of sustainable fuels, marine epoxies, electronic composites, adhesives and coatings, among others.

"Capability delivery is fundamentally a team sport," said Rear Adm. Scott Dillon, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division commander, "and we need diverse and capable teams from government partners like DARPA, industry, and academic collaborators to ensure our warfighters have the decisive advantage. I'm excited to see where our future partnerships will take us."

Related Links
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Bio Fuel Technology and Application News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tuskegee University collaborate on advanced bioderived materials research
Oak Ridge TN (SPX) Dec 03, 2021
The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Tuskegee University have formed a partnership to develop new biodegradable materials for use in buildings, transportation and biomedical applications. The collaboration combines ORNL's expertise in bioscience, high-performance computing and advanced manufacturing with Tuskegee's focus on biomaterials research and fosters opportunities for joint research and the exchange of information between institutions. Tuskegee's Department of Materi ... read more