TIRF Analytix – laboratory-based instruments, and i-Diagnostics gadgets for home-use – two open-source platforms for preventing pandemics and minimizing damages from existing diseases

Naturally occurring and man-made pathogens impose one of the greatest threats on humanity. Security experts concur that survival of humanity critically depends on our capability of controlling pandemics. Indeed, recent COVID killed ~7 millions, damaged ~700 millions, and incurred ~$16,000 Billion losses ~$200,000 for a family of 4. In 1918, the Spanish flu killed ~50 millions, more than WW1, WW2, Korean, and Vietnam wars combined. Definitely, prevention of pandemics should be of the highest priority for national security.

TIRF Labs performs a non-profit project, i-Diagnostics, which goal is to prevent future epidemics and minimize the damage from existing diseases. We envision an infrastructure based on two clusters of open-source platform technologies: TIRF Analytix and i-Diagnostics. The former cluster includes TIRF microarrays for drug screening, TIRF microscopy for single molecule biology, and laboratory-based mega-diagnostics; the latter – i-Diagnostics gadgets for home-use. TIRF Labs’ team is uniquely positioned in the area of molecular diagnostics and drug screening. After 9-11 and anthrax letter attacks, the U.S. Government funded our R&D efforts in the area of CBRNE security. We exceeded the expectations for R&D grants and not only invented and prototyped, but also manufactured and supplied to research groups worldwide our advanced TIRF Analytix and prototypes of i-Diagnostics. We didn’t use standard marketing, and still rely on our customers, who publish their studies in scientific journals and thus advertise our products. We are not famous yet, haven’t reached massive manufacturing yet, but generate enough income to chip a part of it for our non-profit endeavor i-Diagnostics. Our progress, however, was slow, while viruses mutate fast. To accelerate the progress we pledge to give back to society by creating an open source platform for global infrastructure of precision medicine and home-use diagnostics. We envision that i-Diagnostics will be available and affordable to everyone, while TIRF Analytix instruments become standard equipment for clinical, academic, and CBRNE security laboratories. We have successfully completed Phase 1, for which the US Government awarded $4.3M. To accelerate our progress, prevent future pandemics and minimize the damage from existing diseases, we inquire the U.S. Government for grants and philanthropists for donations to cover the development cost of Phase 2. Donate and become a part of global efforts to prevent future pandemics, revolutionize medicine, improve quality, and reduce the cost of healthcare. We also envision that TIRF Analytix and i-Diagnostics will become indispensable tools for the great purpose of “Make America Healthy Again“, longevity and rejuvenation studies.

We would be excited to become a part of SpaceX community and contribute to its mission of making humanity an interstellar species. Biological threats, as mentioned, impose existential risks on humanity. Dr. J. Sotos wrote: "...before civilizations become interstellar colonizers they develop advanced biotechnology and eradicate themselves, which explains the Fermi paradox.” TIRF Analytix and i-Diagnostics mitigate for the risks and, thus, are of paramount importance for the interstellar colonization, as well as for preserving humanity on the planet Earth.

TIRF Analytix – Instruments for Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence

TIRF Analytix is a cluster of TIRF devices and accessories for Single Molecule Biology, Single Molecule Detection, sm-FRET,
Super-resolution Microscopy, Real-time TIRF Microarrays, Mega-diagnostics, Analysis of Biomolecular Interactions, Rapid Drug Screening, Lead Optimization, Plasma Membrane, Longevity, Rejuvenation Studies, Single Cell Analysis, i-Diagnostics, and more…

Introducing uTIRF – the Ultimate TIRF Microscopy Turnkey Station

In addition to traditional objective-based TIRF, TIRF Labs offers advanced prism-TIRF and lightguide-TIRF systems as add-on accessories for fluorescence microscopes. In prism-TIRF and lightguide-TIRF geometries the excitation lightpath is separated from the emission channel. Unlike in objective-TIRF, the intensity of stray light in p-TIRF and lg-TIRF is minimal; the TIRF effect is clean, while in the objective-TIRF geometry the evanescent wave is contaminated with 10-15% of stray light. Lg-TIRF and p-TIRF are exceptionally flexible geometries that can be used with dry, water-, and oil-immersion objectives, low and high numerical aperture, while objective -TIRF only with specialized high NA, large magnification objectives. In the case of p- and lg-TIRF, UV light (>190 nm) can be used for excitation, a feature not available in objective-TIRF. Large area of the evanescent wave up to 20 mm X 50 mm can be used in lightguide-TIRF geometry  for real-time microarrays to detect proteins, nucleic acids, and metabolites simultaneously.

TIRF Principles. TIRF employs the phenomena of total internal reflection and the evanescent wave to selectively excite fluorophores located at the surface and in close proximity (~100 nm) to the surface of a glass, silica, or plastic slide. Fluorophores that are in the bulk of the solution are not excited and do not fluoresce. Exceptional spatial selectivity at distances smaller than the wavelength gives TIRF its numerous advantages, including the ultimate limit of detection – single molecule. The TIRF effect allows for the circumventing of the diffraction limit of resolution and, therefore, enables many super-resolution microscopy methods.  TIRF efficiently minimizes the background and allows for monitoring the molecular dynamics at the level of single molecules in real-time.  More »

TIRF Applications. TIRF spectroscopy and TIRF microscopy are powerful analytical tools for numerous life science areas, including single molecule biology, super-resolution microscopies, cell biology,  real-time microarrays for molecular diagnostics, bioassay development, nanoengineering, and drug screening. In particular, TIRF is “a method uniquely suited to image the plasma membrane with its associated organelles and macromolecules in living cells. The method shows even the smallest vesicles made by cells, and can image the dynamics of single protein molecules.” [Steyer JA, Almers W. A real-time view of life within 100 nm of the plasma membrane. Nature Reviews, Molecular Cell Biology, 2001, 2(4), 268-75]. References to the articles published by our customers and TIRF application notes are available at the webpage: www.tirf-labs.com/applications

TIRF Products. TIRF Labs offers a broad range of TIRF products: prism-, lightguide-, and objective-based TIRF microscopy systems,  from simple add-on accessories to sophisticated computer-controlled  turnkey stations, including uTIRF. Our LED and laser fluorescence illuminators include cost-efficient single-color light sources, and two-, three-, four-,  or seven-color manual or computer-controlled  illuminators. For TIRF spectroscopy we supply TIRF accessories with gravity flow and digital fluidics. Our automated TIRF microarray biosensors detect multiple nucleic acid, protein, and metabolite markers in parallel and in a matter of a few minutes. Popular products also include TIRF slides, lightguides, and prisms. More »