Project acronym aNtHESIS
Project Novel heart regeneration strategies
Researcher (PI) Eldad Tzahor
Host Institution (HI) WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2014-PoC
Summary Heart disease and particularly myocardial infarction, i.e. heart attack, is the leading cause of death in the Western world today. The diminished regenerative potential of the heart begins shortly after birth, when most CardioMyocytes (CMs) cease to proliferate and make a transition from hyperplastic to hypertrophic growth. The Tzahor lab has been intensively exploring novel molecules, compounds as well as the molecular mechanisms that facilitate CM cell division in the adult heart of mammals as a strategy for eliciting heart regeneration. These efforts, had led to the identification of novel compounds which significantly increased the proliferation of adult CMs. Drawing upon these findings, the aim of the aNtHESIS project is two-fold. First, to (i) validate the pre-clinical application of our two novel compounds by conducting comprehensive in-vitro and in-vivo tests in mice as well as by carrying out experiments using human CMs. The second aim is (ii) to establish the business feasibility of our cardiac regenerative therapy concept by taking the necessary steps towards the commercialization of our novel compounds, focusing on the creation of strategic alliances with key private sector companies.
Summary
Heart disease and particularly myocardial infarction, i.e. heart attack, is the leading cause of death in the Western world today. The diminished regenerative potential of the heart begins shortly after birth, when most CardioMyocytes (CMs) cease to proliferate and make a transition from hyperplastic to hypertrophic growth. The Tzahor lab has been intensively exploring novel molecules, compounds as well as the molecular mechanisms that facilitate CM cell division in the adult heart of mammals as a strategy for eliciting heart regeneration. These efforts, had led to the identification of novel compounds which significantly increased the proliferation of adult CMs. Drawing upon these findings, the aim of the aNtHESIS project is two-fold. First, to (i) validate the pre-clinical application of our two novel compounds by conducting comprehensive in-vitro and in-vivo tests in mice as well as by carrying out experiments using human CMs. The second aim is (ii) to establish the business feasibility of our cardiac regenerative therapy concept by taking the necessary steps towards the commercialization of our novel compounds, focusing on the creation of strategic alliances with key private sector companies.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-01-01, End date: 2017-06-30
Project acronym Cancer-Drug-Screen
Project High-throughput drug screening for identifying personalized cancer treatments tailored to the particular mutations of the patient’s tumor
Researcher (PI) Eran Azriel Segal
Host Institution (HI) WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2014-PoC
Summary Cancer is caused by a series of genetic alterations that confer an advantage to cancer cells, leading to uncontrolled growth. However, each tumor exhibits distinct molecular changes, making each patient’s malignancy unique. Hence, in the personalized medicine era, cancer treatment aims to tailor the most suitable treatment for each patient according to his/her genetic background, tumor acquired mutations and clinical indications.
The p53 tumor suppressor is the most frequently mutated gene in human cancers, with thousands of different tumor-associated mutations reported. Many such cancer-associated mutations in p53 lead to loss of its tumor suppressive activity and in some cases, to gain of new oncogenic functions, resulting in tumor recurrence and enhanced patient mortality. Importantly, tumors with different p53 mutations exhibit specific cancerous phenotypes and do not respond to particular treatments.
Based on our ERC-funded breakthrough technology, where we made a library of ~10,000 distinct p53 variants, and based on our strong IPR offering and competitive advantages, here we propose to develop three products for determining which treatment (or combination) would be most effective for treating a patient’s tumor according to his specific p53 sequence, reducing excruciating side effects and improving treatment outcomes:
1) Offering patients/physicians a list of treatments ranked by their efficacy in treating cells of similar origin and p53 mutations to those present in the patient’s tumor, allowing them to make more informed treatment decisions.
2) Offering companies in the personalized cancer treatment field access to our existing proprietary data regarding treatment efficacies towards p53 genetic variants.
3) A service to drug developing companies that applies our technology for testing the efficacy of a client-supplied drug of interest over all ~10,000 p53 mutations in our library in a cell-line of choice.
Summary
Cancer is caused by a series of genetic alterations that confer an advantage to cancer cells, leading to uncontrolled growth. However, each tumor exhibits distinct molecular changes, making each patient’s malignancy unique. Hence, in the personalized medicine era, cancer treatment aims to tailor the most suitable treatment for each patient according to his/her genetic background, tumor acquired mutations and clinical indications.
The p53 tumor suppressor is the most frequently mutated gene in human cancers, with thousands of different tumor-associated mutations reported. Many such cancer-associated mutations in p53 lead to loss of its tumor suppressive activity and in some cases, to gain of new oncogenic functions, resulting in tumor recurrence and enhanced patient mortality. Importantly, tumors with different p53 mutations exhibit specific cancerous phenotypes and do not respond to particular treatments.
Based on our ERC-funded breakthrough technology, where we made a library of ~10,000 distinct p53 variants, and based on our strong IPR offering and competitive advantages, here we propose to develop three products for determining which treatment (or combination) would be most effective for treating a patient’s tumor according to his specific p53 sequence, reducing excruciating side effects and improving treatment outcomes:
1) Offering patients/physicians a list of treatments ranked by their efficacy in treating cells of similar origin and p53 mutations to those present in the patient’s tumor, allowing them to make more informed treatment decisions.
2) Offering companies in the personalized cancer treatment field access to our existing proprietary data regarding treatment efficacies towards p53 genetic variants.
3) A service to drug developing companies that applies our technology for testing the efficacy of a client-supplied drug of interest over all ~10,000 p53 mutations in our library in a cell-line of choice.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-04-01, End date: 2016-09-30
Project acronym Cancer-Targeted PolyIC
Project Treatment of EGFR over-expressing cancers by targeted non-viral delivery of PolyIC
Researcher (PI) Alexander Levitzki
Host Institution (HI) THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2014-PoC
Summary We have recently shown that application of EGFR targeted synthetic dsRNA: Poly Iosine/Poly Cytosine (pIC) is highly efficient and selective against deadly cancers overexpressing EGFR, like glioblastoma (U87MGwtEGFR), breast cancer (MDA-MB-468) and adenocarcinoma (A431). Double-stranded RNA, frequently expressed in cells infected with viruses, activates a number of pro-apoptotic processes simultaneously. These dsRNA-induced mechanisms efficiently kill infected cells and induce expression of anti-proliferative cytokines from the interferon (IFN) family, thereby preventing spread of the virus. pIC delivered with Melittin-polyethylenimine-polyethyleneglycol-EGF (MPPE) eliminated orthotropic and subcutaneous tumors of the above cancers. Heterogeneous glioblastoma models where only half of the cells overexpress wtEGFR are also eliminated by local application, most likely due to a bystander antiproliferative effects, at least partially mediated by interferons (Shir et al., 2006). Systemic application of EGFR targeted pIC is also highly effective against breast and adenocarcinoma disseminated cancer models resembling metastatic cancers (Shir et al., 2011). During the last two years we have improved the vectors homing to EGFR to entities that can now be translated into clinical agents (Shaffert, 2011; Shir 2011, Abourbeh 2012). The impressive results with these more simplified vectors, make this project ready for clinical development, which requires fund raising from a Company/Venture capitalist. Commercialization of the therapy will be detailed in the proposal.
Summary
We have recently shown that application of EGFR targeted synthetic dsRNA: Poly Iosine/Poly Cytosine (pIC) is highly efficient and selective against deadly cancers overexpressing EGFR, like glioblastoma (U87MGwtEGFR), breast cancer (MDA-MB-468) and adenocarcinoma (A431). Double-stranded RNA, frequently expressed in cells infected with viruses, activates a number of pro-apoptotic processes simultaneously. These dsRNA-induced mechanisms efficiently kill infected cells and induce expression of anti-proliferative cytokines from the interferon (IFN) family, thereby preventing spread of the virus. pIC delivered with Melittin-polyethylenimine-polyethyleneglycol-EGF (MPPE) eliminated orthotropic and subcutaneous tumors of the above cancers. Heterogeneous glioblastoma models where only half of the cells overexpress wtEGFR are also eliminated by local application, most likely due to a bystander antiproliferative effects, at least partially mediated by interferons (Shir et al., 2006). Systemic application of EGFR targeted pIC is also highly effective against breast and adenocarcinoma disseminated cancer models resembling metastatic cancers (Shir et al., 2011). During the last two years we have improved the vectors homing to EGFR to entities that can now be translated into clinical agents (Shaffert, 2011; Shir 2011, Abourbeh 2012). The impressive results with these more simplified vectors, make this project ready for clinical development, which requires fund raising from a Company/Venture capitalist. Commercialization of the therapy will be detailed in the proposal.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-02-01, End date: 2016-07-31
Project acronym ContactLube
Project Highly-lubricated soft contact lenses
Researcher (PI) Jacob Klein
Host Institution (HI) WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2014-PoC
Summary The object of this proof of concept project is to modify soft contact lenses to render them more lubricated, and so make them far more comfortable to use. We propose to improve greatly the lubricity of soft contact lenses, used by over 100 million people worldwide with a market of around $7.5bn, and for which acute discomfort may arise from high friction at the interfaces between the lenses and the eyelid or cornea. According to an established clinical hypothesis, ocular comfort is related to the level of friction between the anterior side of the contact lens and the inner eyelid occurring during the blinking process, and boundary lubrication is the key to providing user comfort during extensive wearing of soft contact lenses. High lens friction, for a substantial part of the user population, can limit the extent to which soft lenses may be used and can also aggravate pathologies such as dry eye syndrome. Thus soft contact lenses that are much better lubricated than those currently in use have clear economic and health-related benefits. The current project, working through 5 work-packages, will establish the feasibility, will carry out competitive analysis, explore the commercialization process and the IPR position, and seek contacts with appropriate industrial partners to further develop the commercialization of this idea.
Summary
The object of this proof of concept project is to modify soft contact lenses to render them more lubricated, and so make them far more comfortable to use. We propose to improve greatly the lubricity of soft contact lenses, used by over 100 million people worldwide with a market of around $7.5bn, and for which acute discomfort may arise from high friction at the interfaces between the lenses and the eyelid or cornea. According to an established clinical hypothesis, ocular comfort is related to the level of friction between the anterior side of the contact lens and the inner eyelid occurring during the blinking process, and boundary lubrication is the key to providing user comfort during extensive wearing of soft contact lenses. High lens friction, for a substantial part of the user population, can limit the extent to which soft lenses may be used and can also aggravate pathologies such as dry eye syndrome. Thus soft contact lenses that are much better lubricated than those currently in use have clear economic and health-related benefits. The current project, working through 5 work-packages, will establish the feasibility, will carry out competitive analysis, explore the commercialization process and the IPR position, and seek contacts with appropriate industrial partners to further develop the commercialization of this idea.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-01-01, End date: 2016-06-30
Project acronym DCM
Project Distributed Cryptography Module
Researcher (PI) Yehuda Lindell
Host Institution (HI) BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2014-PoC
Summary The DCM (Distributed Crypto Module) is a unique security system that provides a significant boost in server-side security, which will benefit almost every organisation today. The technology relies on a novel approach to protect cryptographic keys and authentication credentials that form the backbone of network and data security. Currently, the cryptographic keys and authentication credentials that reside on servers inside networks constitute single points of failure: it suffices for the attacker to obtain them and all is lost. This is due to the fact that all cryptographic techniques rely on the secrecy of the key; if the key is compromised then all is lost. Indeed, cryptography is rarely broken (even by the NSA); rather, it is bypassed by stealing the key! Server breaches are ubiquitous today and novel defenses are an acute need today in industry and government.
In the DCM, the key is first split and shared amongst two or more servers (using known secret sharing technology) and then using our novel approach, the cryptographic operations necessary are carried out without bringing the parts of the secret together. Rather, the servers run a secure protocol, based on secure multiparty computation, which has the security guarantee that even if an attacker breaks into all but one of the servers, and can run any malicious code that it wishes, it still cannot learn anything about the secret key or credential. By configuring the DCM servers independently (different OS, different admins, different defenses, etc.), a very high level of security is achieved.
The scope of the Proof of Concept DCM encapsulates the steps need to bring this groundbreaking technology to the market. A full business plan and market survey will be developed for the construction of a new company that will develop the DCM application and bring it to market. The first full version of a DCM will be ready for market a year after the company has been established (with limited versions earlier).
Summary
The DCM (Distributed Crypto Module) is a unique security system that provides a significant boost in server-side security, which will benefit almost every organisation today. The technology relies on a novel approach to protect cryptographic keys and authentication credentials that form the backbone of network and data security. Currently, the cryptographic keys and authentication credentials that reside on servers inside networks constitute single points of failure: it suffices for the attacker to obtain them and all is lost. This is due to the fact that all cryptographic techniques rely on the secrecy of the key; if the key is compromised then all is lost. Indeed, cryptography is rarely broken (even by the NSA); rather, it is bypassed by stealing the key! Server breaches are ubiquitous today and novel defenses are an acute need today in industry and government.
In the DCM, the key is first split and shared amongst two or more servers (using known secret sharing technology) and then using our novel approach, the cryptographic operations necessary are carried out without bringing the parts of the secret together. Rather, the servers run a secure protocol, based on secure multiparty computation, which has the security guarantee that even if an attacker breaks into all but one of the servers, and can run any malicious code that it wishes, it still cannot learn anything about the secret key or credential. By configuring the DCM servers independently (different OS, different admins, different defenses, etc.), a very high level of security is achieved.
The scope of the Proof of Concept DCM encapsulates the steps need to bring this groundbreaking technology to the market. A full business plan and market survey will be developed for the construction of a new company that will develop the DCM application and bring it to market. The first full version of a DCM will be ready for market a year after the company has been established (with limited versions earlier).
Max ERC Funding
149 776 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-11-01, End date: 2016-04-30
Project acronym EDUCAGE
Project The EDUCAGE: A Behavioral Platform for Naturalistic Learning
Researcher (PI) Adi Mizrahi
Host Institution (HI) THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2014-PoC
Summary Understanding behavior is still one of the holy grails in the natural and social sciences. Behavior is often utterly complex because it is a result of an extremely rich set of past experiences, the present state of the animal and the animal’s predictions about the future; all of which affect learning, decision making and consequently behavior. Given the complexity of behavior, most researchers work in the realm of highly simplified learning tasks but these only test very basic attributes of learning and are constraining discovery of more sophisticated behavior. To date, there are only few available platforms for rigorous study of complex behavioral paradigms in experimental animals; not in basic science nor in biomedical research. Our goal is to bring to completion (and potential commercialization) a novel platform for analyzing complex animal behavior named “The Educage” to allow fully automatic, hands free assessment of higher cognitive functions in freely behaving animals. Potential customers are research labs, and the biomedical industry. The Educage will allow researchers to study behavior at unprecedented resolution, 24/7, for any duration of time. The learning paradigms can be tailored to the specific task of interest. The Educage has many advantages that outperform existing technologies by allowing rigorous statistical assessment of complex behaviors in laboratory animals. The Educage allows researchers the flexibility to monitor, analyze and manipulate the experiment during the behavior. Our system can be reliably used to analyze perceptual learning in mice and is well suited for being a new and rigorous behavioral platform. It has great potential to become a central tool to fuel discovery in animal research both in biology and biomedical research.
Summary
Understanding behavior is still one of the holy grails in the natural and social sciences. Behavior is often utterly complex because it is a result of an extremely rich set of past experiences, the present state of the animal and the animal’s predictions about the future; all of which affect learning, decision making and consequently behavior. Given the complexity of behavior, most researchers work in the realm of highly simplified learning tasks but these only test very basic attributes of learning and are constraining discovery of more sophisticated behavior. To date, there are only few available platforms for rigorous study of complex behavioral paradigms in experimental animals; not in basic science nor in biomedical research. Our goal is to bring to completion (and potential commercialization) a novel platform for analyzing complex animal behavior named “The Educage” to allow fully automatic, hands free assessment of higher cognitive functions in freely behaving animals. Potential customers are research labs, and the biomedical industry. The Educage will allow researchers to study behavior at unprecedented resolution, 24/7, for any duration of time. The learning paradigms can be tailored to the specific task of interest. The Educage has many advantages that outperform existing technologies by allowing rigorous statistical assessment of complex behaviors in laboratory animals. The Educage allows researchers the flexibility to monitor, analyze and manipulate the experiment during the behavior. Our system can be reliably used to analyze perceptual learning in mice and is well suited for being a new and rigorous behavioral platform. It has great potential to become a central tool to fuel discovery in animal research both in biology and biomedical research.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-01-01, End date: 2016-06-30
Project acronym FLDcure
Project A potent Micro-RNA therapeutic for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
Researcher (PI) Hermona Soreq
Host Institution (HI) THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2014-PoC
Summary Fatty Liver disease (FLD) is a widespread disease which can often progress to Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. At present FLD disease affects a huge perportion of the population and prompt treatment will be of major health benefits to the general population. We have developed a specific therapeutic targeting a microRNA we and others have shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of FLD. This therapeutic agent can dramatically reduce FLD in a mouse model. We would like to extend the pre-clinical studies in order to encourage interest of a pharmaceutical company who will license the technology and pursue clinical trials.
Summary
Fatty Liver disease (FLD) is a widespread disease which can often progress to Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. At present FLD disease affects a huge perportion of the population and prompt treatment will be of major health benefits to the general population. We have developed a specific therapeutic targeting a microRNA we and others have shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of FLD. This therapeutic agent can dramatically reduce FLD in a mouse model. We would like to extend the pre-clinical studies in order to encourage interest of a pharmaceutical company who will license the technology and pursue clinical trials.
Max ERC Funding
149 800 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-01-01, End date: 2016-06-30
Project acronym LuMaSense
Project A Non-Invasive Test for Guiding Follow–up of Patients with CT-Detected Lung Nodules
Researcher (PI) Hossam Haick
Host Institution (HI) TECHNION - ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2014-PoC
Summary This PoC is a commercially-oriented spin-off from our “DIAG-CANCER” ERC project, addressing an urgent clinical need in the field of lung cancer (LC). The rationale behind this PoC is that CT-based LC screening programs are emerging in many countries worldwide. However, the high false positive rate of this technique (96% out of the 24% positive CT findings are non-cancerous) has been a major challenge in front those plans. This is because the CT-detected non-cancerous group has undergone unnecessary invasive procedures that are both costly and associated with significant morbidity and mortality. With this PoC project, we aim to increase the specificity of the LDCT based screening program by utilizing an auxiliary noninvasive breath test to distinguish between malignant and non-cancerous CT findings. The proposed breath test relies on a novel stand-alone device that provide an improved combination of speed, sensitivity, portability, low complexity, easy operation and low production cost. In order to transform our idea and current technology into a marketable device we propose taking several steps: (i) optimization of a prototype device and evaluation of its clinical usefulness through clinical studies; (ii) completing the IP portfolio of the device; and (iii) conducting detailed market research to identify the optimal placement in the healthcare market and possible competitors. After completing these stages, to be covered by the present grant, we propose to proceed to the technology transfer to a mature health care company or through complementary fund to advance the technological plans. If successful, the proposed PoC can be translated immediately into a powerful tool for the management of nodule-positive patients. It will both reduce the rate of unnecessary invasive procedures, and on the other hand, will avoid treatment delay when cancer exists. The economic implication of this action is a significant save of ~$12-16 billion for the healthcare system worldwide.
Summary
This PoC is a commercially-oriented spin-off from our “DIAG-CANCER” ERC project, addressing an urgent clinical need in the field of lung cancer (LC). The rationale behind this PoC is that CT-based LC screening programs are emerging in many countries worldwide. However, the high false positive rate of this technique (96% out of the 24% positive CT findings are non-cancerous) has been a major challenge in front those plans. This is because the CT-detected non-cancerous group has undergone unnecessary invasive procedures that are both costly and associated with significant morbidity and mortality. With this PoC project, we aim to increase the specificity of the LDCT based screening program by utilizing an auxiliary noninvasive breath test to distinguish between malignant and non-cancerous CT findings. The proposed breath test relies on a novel stand-alone device that provide an improved combination of speed, sensitivity, portability, low complexity, easy operation and low production cost. In order to transform our idea and current technology into a marketable device we propose taking several steps: (i) optimization of a prototype device and evaluation of its clinical usefulness through clinical studies; (ii) completing the IP portfolio of the device; and (iii) conducting detailed market research to identify the optimal placement in the healthcare market and possible competitors. After completing these stages, to be covered by the present grant, we propose to proceed to the technology transfer to a mature health care company or through complementary fund to advance the technological plans. If successful, the proposed PoC can be translated immediately into a powerful tool for the management of nodule-positive patients. It will both reduce the rate of unnecessary invasive procedures, and on the other hand, will avoid treatment delay when cancer exists. The economic implication of this action is a significant save of ~$12-16 billion for the healthcare system worldwide.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-06-01, End date: 2016-11-30
Project acronym MetKnock
Project Precise and non-GMO Engineering of Nutritional Factors for Breeding High Quality Crops
Researcher (PI) Asaph Aharoni
Host Institution (HI) WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2014-PoC
Summary While great attention has been given to increase nutritional substances in food plants only limited efforts have been made for using biotechnology to reduce the level of endogenous, anti-nutritional factors (e.g. toxic compounds) in existing crops. Anti-nutritional substances not only affect the digestion and absorption of nutrients, but can also be lethal to humans or feeding animals and are responsible for food spoilage. Glycoalkaloids (GLAs) produced by crops of the Solanacea family, namely, potato and eggplant, are a major problem for breeders and farmers, as their level must be tightly regulated. Worldwide, between 13 and 27% of the potato crops are discarded because GLA levels are above the maximum currently deemed to be safe. In this PoC project we propose to redesign the potato GLAs metabolic pathway in a precise manner without the insertion of foreign genes, through targeted gene knockouts. Our strategy will be based on the discovery and intellectual property of genes part of the GLAs biosynthetic pathway obtained in the course of the ERC SAMIT project (Aharoni lab; ID-204575) that will be targets for precise, non-GMO metabolic engineering of potato. Know-how from TRACTAR, an ERC project (ID-268646) in the collaborating lab (A. Levy), will serve as the base for generating custom-designed nucleases (i.e. CRISPR/Cas) to be employed for targeted knockouts of potato GLAs genes. We will develop new potato cultivars with low GLAs content and with minimum impact on other plant characteristics, providing a proof-of-concept for potato breeding. In parallel to the technical testing, we will build a strategy to commercialize the IP and prototypes that have been or will be developed in the course of this project. We will identify and contact the relevant partners or investors who have an interest in potato quality and/or in the production of functional health food.
Summary
While great attention has been given to increase nutritional substances in food plants only limited efforts have been made for using biotechnology to reduce the level of endogenous, anti-nutritional factors (e.g. toxic compounds) in existing crops. Anti-nutritional substances not only affect the digestion and absorption of nutrients, but can also be lethal to humans or feeding animals and are responsible for food spoilage. Glycoalkaloids (GLAs) produced by crops of the Solanacea family, namely, potato and eggplant, are a major problem for breeders and farmers, as their level must be tightly regulated. Worldwide, between 13 and 27% of the potato crops are discarded because GLA levels are above the maximum currently deemed to be safe. In this PoC project we propose to redesign the potato GLAs metabolic pathway in a precise manner without the insertion of foreign genes, through targeted gene knockouts. Our strategy will be based on the discovery and intellectual property of genes part of the GLAs biosynthetic pathway obtained in the course of the ERC SAMIT project (Aharoni lab; ID-204575) that will be targets for precise, non-GMO metabolic engineering of potato. Know-how from TRACTAR, an ERC project (ID-268646) in the collaborating lab (A. Levy), will serve as the base for generating custom-designed nucleases (i.e. CRISPR/Cas) to be employed for targeted knockouts of potato GLAs genes. We will develop new potato cultivars with low GLAs content and with minimum impact on other plant characteristics, providing a proof-of-concept for potato breeding. In parallel to the technical testing, we will build a strategy to commercialize the IP and prototypes that have been or will be developed in the course of this project. We will identify and contact the relevant partners or investors who have an interest in potato quality and/or in the production of functional health food.
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-02-01, End date: 2016-07-31
Project acronym NETEEG
Project Spatial super-resolution of electrophysiological measurements
Researcher (PI) Alexander Bronstein
Host Institution (HI) TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY
Call Details Proof of Concept (PoC), PC1, ERC-2014-PoC
Summary Electroencephalography (EEG) is the non-invasive recording of electrical brain activity, and is an indispensable diagnostic and research tool. A significant advantage of EEG compared to other brain imaging modalities is its high temporal resolution. The downside of EEG is, however, its poor spatial resolution, which is one of the reasons for its gradual replacement by costlier alternatives. It results mainly from the sharp discontinuity in the electric conductivity of the skull bones acting as a strong low-pass filter and limiting the amount meaningful information that can be extracted from EEG signals.
We propose a novel concept of EEG measurement hardware which, in combination with signal processing techniques, will increase the spatial resolution of EEG by as much as an order of magnitude. Our idea is based on the observation that by connecting a dynamic network of controllable impedances between pairs of measurement electrodes, one can alter the shape of the spatial filter constituted by the skull. Since EEG is a relatively narrow-band signal (about 100Hz, limited by the time constants of basics units of neural activity), we expect to be able to measure tens or hundreds of different configurations of the network, either directly or by using a compressed sampling scheme, without compromising the temporal resolution. This will introduce many independent equations to the EEG inverse problem and improve source estimation, having critical impact on the diagnostic capabilities of EEG as well as on its use in emerging applications such as neuro-feedback and brain-computer interface (BCI).
Summary
Electroencephalography (EEG) is the non-invasive recording of electrical brain activity, and is an indispensable diagnostic and research tool. A significant advantage of EEG compared to other brain imaging modalities is its high temporal resolution. The downside of EEG is, however, its poor spatial resolution, which is one of the reasons for its gradual replacement by costlier alternatives. It results mainly from the sharp discontinuity in the electric conductivity of the skull bones acting as a strong low-pass filter and limiting the amount meaningful information that can be extracted from EEG signals.
We propose a novel concept of EEG measurement hardware which, in combination with signal processing techniques, will increase the spatial resolution of EEG by as much as an order of magnitude. Our idea is based on the observation that by connecting a dynamic network of controllable impedances between pairs of measurement electrodes, one can alter the shape of the spatial filter constituted by the skull. Since EEG is a relatively narrow-band signal (about 100Hz, limited by the time constants of basics units of neural activity), we expect to be able to measure tens or hundreds of different configurations of the network, either directly or by using a compressed sampling scheme, without compromising the temporal resolution. This will introduce many independent equations to the EEG inverse problem and improve source estimation, having critical impact on the diagnostic capabilities of EEG as well as on its use in emerging applications such as neuro-feedback and brain-computer interface (BCI).
Max ERC Funding
150 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2015-04-01, End date: 2016-09-30
