IARPA Announces PICARD Program Kickoff
February 23, 2024 • An article posted to Intelligence Community News detailed the announcement from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) of the Pursuing Intelligent Complex Aerosols for Rapid Detection (PICARD) Project kickoff, which took place on February 21, 2024. Signature Science is a proud member of the project team. From the article: “The Pursuing Intelligent Complex Aerosols for Rapid Detection (PICARD) program aims to develop in situ and standoff sensing platforms to identify complex aerosols of non-uniform sizes, chemical composition, and structure in the presence of pollutants, wind, dust, pollen and even volcanic ash. ‘Identifying the chemicals in aerosol particles is a particularly hard … MORE
Inaugural CAG Symposium Fosters Deeper Understanding of Key FIGG Topics
Roundtable discussions offered small groups the opportunity to discuss their challenges in the space of FIGG and offer solutions In recent years, Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG) has become a primary focus of large forensic conferences as laboratories explore the adoption … MORE
Abstract Biomanufacturing practitioners and researchers describe the norms that should govern the growing, global field, to include safety, security, sustainability, and social responsibility. These ‘4S Principles’ should be broadly adopted so that the future of the field may provide the greatest benefits … MORE
Dr. Joe McDonough Joins Signature Science’s Managers Committee
McDonough serves as Vice President of Southwest Research Institute’s Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Division AUSTIN, TEXAS — November 16, 2023 – Signature Science, LLC is pleased to announce the election of Dr. Joe McDonough to its Managers Committee. In 2022, Dr. … MORE
SigSci will develop and execute training plans and provide laboratory quality assurance support. AUSTIN, TEXAS – October 17, 2023 – Globalization fosters connection and progress across national boundaries. However, as demonstrated by health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and 2014 Ebola outbreak, an interconnected world is also vulnerable to the spread of disease. Preventing the spread of biothreat pathogens and disease requires a global detection and containment effort through collaboration. To this end, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Cooperative Threat Reduction, Biological Threat Reduction Program has partnered with allied countries in Africa and multi-lateral-pan-African organizations to strengthen biosafety and biosecurity … MORE
Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic forever underscored the need for bio-surveillance platforms capable of rapidly detecting emerging pathogens. Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) couples long-read sequencing with in-field capability, opening the door to real-time, in-field biosurveillance. Though a promising technology, streaming assignment of … MORE
Fentanyl Detection Tool, FentAlert™, Now Available from Signature Science
Federal, state, and local government agencies need a device for rapid, accurate detection of fentanyl to use while wearing protective gear. AUSTIN, TEXAS – October 10, 2023 – Signature Science, LLC is now offering FentAlert™ to assist federal, state, and local … MORE
Award recognizes best paper by a woman or under-represented minority in science in each of Mary Ann Liebert Inc.’s 100 peer-reviewed journals. AUSTIN, TEXAS – August 22, 2023 – The Rosalind Franklin Society has awarded Michelle Peck of Signature Science, LLC … MORE
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) award recognizes exemplary method validation benefitting the forensic science casework practitioners. AUSTIN, TEXAS – May 18, 2023 – Signature Science, LLC is pleased to announce that the Forensic Research Committee of the American Society … MORE
Abstract Regulation of research on microbes that cause disease in humans has historically been focused on taxonomic lists of ‘bad bugs’. However, given our increased knowledge of these pathogens through inexpensive genome sequencing, 5 decades of research in microbial pathogenesis, and the … MORE
HORIZON Newsletter – April 2023
In October CAG staff completed our Developmental Validation of the Illumina® Infinium Assay Using the Global Screening Array (GSA) on the iScan System for use in Forensic Laboratories. The study was performed in accordance with the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods Validation … MORE