The company's DETECTR disease detection platform will be used to help develop the technology and optimize the CRISPR enzymes used in the point-of-care device.
The contract was awarded under DARPA's Detect It with Gene Editing Technologies program, which aims to create a device to detect at least 10 pathogens.
The pace of development for CRISPR-based infectious disease assays increased as the pandemic progressed, more funding became available, and collaboration accelerated.
The two new tests, which have the capability to quantify a patient's viral load, have been designed without external RNA extraction or amplification steps.
The New York Times reports that experts say President Joe Biden's goal of vaccinating 1 million people a day in the US in the next 100 days is too low a bar.
