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Exposure to ionizing radiation or agents that induce DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs), which is one of the most damaging types of lesions in DNA, can result in damage to cells and/or tissues.  Thiscan lead to illness (i.e., Acute Radiation Syndrome, Cancer) or death.  Identifying the amount of exposure to a DNA DSB-causing agent can be useful in determining the need for further testing, avoidance or modification of certain medical procedures, and/or types of medical treatments.

Available for licensing from the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a novel gene signature of thirty-seven drug-responsive genes that links changes in gene expression to the clinically desirable outcome of improved overall survival. Expression of these genes has been linked to prognosis in several cancers, including, but not limited to: multiple myeloma, melanoma, and lung and breast cancers.

In the United States alone, one of four cancer deaths occur from lung cancer and there are over 8 million individuals considered to be at high-risk due to cigarette smoking and other behaviors. It's well known that early detection of cancer significantly improves survival of this disease, however a lack of lung cancer screenings and analysis precludes fast results at a low cost.

Over the past decades, taxanes such as paclitaxel and docetaxel have emerged as effective chemotherapy agents for breast cancer and other malignancies. Taxanes are effective in many patients, however, not all patients benefit from this type of chemotherapy. A significant need remains for a means of predicting clinical outcome from taxane-based chemotherapy.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major global health problem with an estimated 58 million infections in 2019.  However, most HCV infections go undiagnosed due to the lack of clinical symptoms or for lack of access to simple and affordable diagnostic testing. It is estimated that only 21% and 61% of people with a chronic HCV infection have been diagnosed, worldwide and in the United States, respectively.

Henipaviruses are RNA viruses containing two high consequence human pathogens: Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV). Both NiV and HeV infection in humans can result in severe respiratory disease and/or severe neurological manifestations, with mortality rates as high as 80%. There are currently no FDA-approved vaccines or therapeutics, and both NiV and HeV are considered dangerous emerging human pathogens with pandemic potential.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as an analgesic (pain relief) and anesthetic. However, synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, are prone to abuse and are the primary drivers of overdose related deaths in the United States. As little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal. Furthermore, structural variants of fentanyl, often mixed with other drugs or counterfeit pills are illegally distributed without the user’s knowledge.