The Bioscience Research Foundation integrates and analyzes
research data from the biological sciences to create reliable analytical and
predictive tools for reducing biological threats to national security and U.S.
reliance on fossil fuels. Visit our biosciences website for more information about our science to solutions, facilities, people, and publications.
Why our work matters
Sandia is generating a new and deep understanding of emerging and threatening pathogens to help the nation's leaders better identify and understand agents that could put our citizens, assets, and armed forces at risk. This information can drive efforts to thwart
potential attacks and outbreaks, as well as protect public health in the event of an
actual attack or outbreak. Our biofuels research could help our nation solve
immense national security and environmental problems by contributing to efficient,
economical production of advanced biofuels that are "drop-in" replacements for
current gasoline, diesel, or aviation fuels.
Our unique value
Extensive scientific capabilities, equipment,
and facilities
Powerful research tools at the interface of the
physical, computational, and biological sciences
Myriad corporate strengths: nanosciences, high-performance computing,
chemical imaging, microsystems, and the modeling and simulation of complex systems
Collect useful information about pathogens by defining and detecting indicators of infection in complex clinical samples
Strategies
Discover and verify molecular and cellular
disease signatures for pathogens that pose public health and biodefense
concerns
Develop integrative micro-bioanalytical
approaches to detect host/pathogen indicators of infection in complex
biological samples
Develop bioinformatics approaches for data
integration, management, and knowledge extraction to inform effective public
health responses to disease outbreaks
Unlock two powerful sources
of bioenergy: lignocellulose and algae
Strategies
Understand biomass recalcitrance to enable the
discovery of efficient, economical methods to convert lignocellulose — the chemical compound that makes up plant cell walls — into fuels
Build a fundamental understanding of the factors that
govern algal pond stability
Identify molecular mechanisms that lead to
increased lipid/fuel production
