Programmable Nuclease Microbial Genome Targeting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for acute microbial infections, such as septicemia, sepsis, and septic shock, require rapid and effective interventions due to their life-threatening nature, but existing antibiotics may not provide sufficient speed or durability in reducing microbial loads, especially in immunocompromised patients or those with antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Innovation Solution
The use of programmable nucleases, like CRISPR/Cas systems, that target specific microbial genomes for rapid and selective killing or growth inhibition, achieving substantial reductions in microbial populations within minutes and sustaining effects for several hours, thereby addressing the limitations of conventional antibiotics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If conventional antibiotics are used to treat acute microbial infections, then microbial growth is inhibited, but the speed and durability of treatment is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the biochemical mechanism of conventional antibiotics with a programmable nuclease system that directly cuts microbial genomes. This substitution enables precise, rapid, and durable microbial killing by targeting specific genomic sequences, achieving both high speed and high reliability in treatment.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the fundamental parameter of microbial treatment from metabolic inhibition to direct genomic destruction. By using programmable nucleases to cut DNA at specific target sites, the system achieves rapid microbial death and sustained treatment effects, overcoming the limitations of conventional antibiotics in speed and durability.
2Duration of action of moving object
If conventional antibiotics are used, then treatment can be administered frequently, but the duration of action is short requiring repeated dosing
Solution Approach 1:
The programmable nuclease system provides continuous antimicrobial action by permanently damaging microbial genomes. Once the nuclease is administered, it continues to cut target DNA sequences in dividing bacteria, maintaining therapeutic effect over extended periods without requiring frequent re-dosing, thus improving both duration and efficiency.
3Reliability
If broad-spectrum antibiotics are used to ensure coverage, then all types of bacteria are targeted, but harmful beneficial bacteria are also affected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the antimicrobial action highly specific to target bacterial species through programmable guide RNAs. Each nuclease system is customized to recognize and cut only the DNA sequences of pathogenic bacteria, leaving beneficial microbiota completely unaffected while maintaining reliable infection coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces guide RNAs as intermediaries that mediate between the nuclease enzyme and the target bacterial DNA. These programmable guide sequences enable precise identification and targeting of pathogenic bacteria-specific genomic regions, ensuring that only harmful bacteria are eliminated while preserving the beneficial microbiome.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables rapid and durable reduction of microbial infections, potentially improving patient survival rates by achieving 100-fold or greater reductions in microbial loads within minutes to hours, with sustained effects, and can be administered less frequently, offering a convenient and economical therapy option.
Implementation Method 1
the nuclease is programmed to cut the target site, whereby genomes of the microbes comprised by the subject are cut and microbial infection of the subject is treated
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention provides methods for treating or preventing microbial (eg, bacterial) infections and means for performing these methods. In particular, treatment of infections requiring rapid and durable therapy is made possible, such as for treating acute conditions such as septicemia, sepsis, SIRS or septic shock. The invention is particularly useful, for example, for treatment of microbes such as for environmental, food and beverage use. The invention relates inter alia to methods of controlling microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) or biofouling of a substrate or fluid in an industrial or domestic system. The invention is also useful for the treatment of pathogenic bacterial infections in subjects receiving a treatment for a disease or condition, such as a transplant or a treatment for cancer, a viral infection or an autoimmune disease.