Project description DEENESFRITPL A novel allergy test An allergy is a reaction of our immune system against particular foreign substances that are not typically harmful. Diagnosis usually involves a series of skin prick tests that identify common types of allergens. However, there is a limit to how many allergens can be tested at the same time. The EU-funded AllergenDetect project has developed a proprietary technology that can test more than 3 000 protein allergens in parallel. Importantly, the method is cost-effective as it relies on recombinant production of proteins. Long-term, the AllergenDetect test is expected to expedite diagnosis of allergies offering relief to millions of sufferers worldwide. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Over the last 50 years, allergies have become a major health issue affecting approximately 20% of adults and more than 30% of children in developed countries. Allergies impair the life quality of affected individuals and diagnosis/treatment is costly for health care systems. In the EU, the avoidable indirect costs of patients insufficiently treated for allergy is estimated to range between 55 and 151 billion Euro per year. A key issue towards fighting this allergy epidemic lies in the diagnosis of allergies, which is still limited by expensive, low throughput methods allowing to test only a few dozens of allergens at once. Yet, several thousands of allergens have been reported in the literature and cost effective methods for testing hundreds or even thousands of allergens are highly sought after.Here, we propose a novel high throughput method (AllergenDetect) enabling to test more than 3000 protein allergens in parallel within a single test, relying on our ERC-funded technology. Instead of cumbersomely purifying protein allergens from natural sources, we will apply synthetic DNA libraries to produce allergens using expression systems commonly applied in biotechnology. Our method greatly expands the throughput of allergen testing compared to state of the art methods and allows for the first time to systematically test all known protein allergens at a fraction of today’s cost and within a single assay. In the first phase, we plan to market this technology as diagnostic kits to hospitals and analytic laboratories that have the required infrastructure already in place. For patient samples from private practitioners, specialized allergists, and individuals seeking allergy testing on their own, we are planning to launch a spin-off laboratory directly performing these AllergenDetect tests. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsDNAnatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsmedical and health sciencesclinical medicineallergology Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2018-PoC - ERC Proof of Concept Grant Call for proposal ERC-2018-PoC See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant Host institution WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE Net EU contribution € 150 000,00 Address HERZL STREET 234 7610001 Rehovot Israel See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 150 000,00 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE Israel Net EU contribution € 150 000,00 Address HERZL STREET 234 7610001 Rehovot See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 150 000,00
