The Biological Technologies Office (BTO) is one of the seven technical offices within

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Ad ...

, an agency of the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

that is responsible for the development of advanced technology for national security. BTO was created in 2014 by combining some programs from the Defense Sciences Office (DSO) and the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO). The office focuses on basic and applied research in the areas of gene editing,

biotechnologies Biotechnology is the integration of Natural science, natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The te ...

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

s and

synthetic biology Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary area of research that seeks to create new biological parts, devices, and systems, or to redesign systems that are already found in nature. It is a branch of science that encompasses a broad ran ...

— from powered exoskeletons for soldiers to brain implants that can control mental disorders. DARPA’s embrace of bioscience began in earnest in 2001, when anthrax spores posted to media offices and members of the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

brought concerns about

bioterrorism Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...

to the fore. Then came the wars in Afghanistan and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, which led the agency to invest in fields such as neuroscience, psychology and brain-computer interfaces — all with the intention of helping injured veterans. By 2013, the number of biology-related programmes had grown such that DARPA decided to consolidate them under one roof.

Organization

The first BTO office director in 2014-2015 - Dr. Geoffrey Ling, MD. The current BTO office director is Dr. Bradley Ringeisen, who joined DARPA as BTO’s deputy director in 2015 and was named director in 2019.

Active Programs

The BTO focused on leveraging advances in engineering and information sciences to drive and reshape biotechnology for technological advantage. BTO is responsible for all neurotechnology, human-machine interface, human performance, infectious disease, and synthetic biology programs within the agency. * Advanced Plant Technologies (APT) *Atmospheric Water Extraction (AWE) *Autonomous Diagnostics to Enable Prevention and Therapeutics (ADEPT) * Battlefield Medicine *Bioelectronics for Tissue Regeneration (BETR) * Biological Control * Biological Robustness in Complex Settings (BRICS) *Biostasis *Bridging the Gap (BG+) *Detect It with Gene Editing Technologies (DIGET) * Dialysis-Like Therapeutics (DLT) * Electrical Prescriptions (ElectRx) * Engineered Living Materials (ELM) *Epigenetic CHaracterization and Observation (ECHO) *Focused Pharma *Friend or Foe * Hand Proprioception and Touch Interfaces (HAPTIX) * In Vivo Nanoplatforms (IVN) * Insect Allies (2017-2021) * Intelligent Neural Interfaces (INI) *INTERfering and Co-Evolving Prevention and Therapy (INTERCEPT) * Living Foundries * Measuring Biological Aptitude (MBA) *Microphysiological Systems (MPS) * Neural Engineering System Design (NESD) * Neuro Function, Activity, Structure, and Technology (Neuro-FAST) *Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3) *Nucleic acids On-demand Worldwide (NOW) *Panacea * Pandemic Prevention Platform (P3) *Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors (PALS) * Personalized Protective Biosystem (PPB) *PReemtive Expression of Protective Alleles and Response Elements (PREPARE) *PREventing EMerging Pathogenetic Threats (PREEMPT) * Prometheus * Rapid Threat Assessment *ReSource * Restoring Active Memory (RAM) *ReVector * Revolutionizing Prosthetics * Safe Genes * Systems-Based Neurotechnology for Emerging Therapies (SUBNETS) * Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) * Technologies for Host Resilience (THoR)

References

External links

*
Conference "DARPA: Biology Is Technology" (New York, 2015) Playlist

Conference "DARPA: Biology Is Technology" (San Francisco, 2015) Playlist
{{Authority control DARPA offices Military units and formations established in 1958 Research and development in the United States Research projects United States Department of Defense agencies 1958 establishments in Virginia Government agencies established in 1958

Organization

Active Programs

See also

References

External links