collaboration between SecureBio and MIT

Early Detection of Dangerous Pathogens – SecureBio 

 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 The world is demonstrably vulnerable to biological threats. COVID-19 represented significant disruption, but emerging pandemics could prove substantially more severe. Protecting civilization requires systems capable of detecting novel pandemic pathogens before widespread transmission—including those without known precursors.

 SecureBio Detection was founded in 2021 as the Nucleic Acid Observatory project in MIT’s Sculpting Evolution group, before spinning out under SecureBio. Our mission involves creating new disease surveillance methods for identifying pandemic threats, particularly pathogens potentially resistant to conventional or anticipated surveillance frameworks.

 Our strategy combines:

 
 Models and experiments assessing large-scale monitoring effectiveness

 Novel computational approaches enabling reliable, early threat identification

 Operational systems validating methods through real-world pilot deployment

 
 Our Zephyr program explores how swab sampling can provide continuous, cost-effective pathogen detection. We’ve collaborated with labs across the US to form CASPER , an early-warning system based on wastewater sequencing.

 Explore our research , review career opportunities , or consider financial support .

 
 
 Research Areas

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Evaluating biosurveillance approaches

 Understanding & comparing large-scale monitoring approaches 

 Disease surveillance employs diverse detection methodologies. For us, identifying sensitive, dependable, and economical pathogen-agnostic approaches represents the central challenge. Through modeling, analysis, and empirical investigation, we evaluate comparative effectiveness—prioritizing municipal and airplane wastewater sources.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Computational threat detection

 Designing new methods to detect pathogens in sequencing data 

 Identifying emerging pathogens requires distinguishing target sequences from complex microbial backgrounds. Our researchers develop and refine computational tools for recognizing threatening organisms in sequence datasets, emphasizing temporal growth pattern analysis.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Piloting early warning

 Putting our research into practice 

 We are deploying a functional early warning demonstration, initially targeting specific threat categories before expanding capabilities. Through iterative refinement and operational learning, we integrate research insights into comprehensive threat detection.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 SecureBio Detection, founded 2021, operates under SecureBio. Contact: [email protected]