When they began to search for ways to fund the start - up, they came across an SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy, which was looking for methods to
detect environmental pathogens using portable devices.
â $ œIt is well known that the immune system can
detect and respond to
pathogens, but these results highlight its capacity to sense and adapt to
environmental changes, such as nutritional starvation, which cause cellular stress, â $ he says.