DARPA’s embrace of bioscience began in earnest in 2001, when anthrax spores posted to media offices and members of the
US Congress brought concerns about
bioterrorism to the fore. Then came the
wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq, which led the agency to invest in fields such as neuroscience, psychology and
brain-computer interfaces — all with the intention of helping injured veterans. By 2013, the number of biology-related programmes had grown such that DARPA decided to consolidate them under one roof.[2]
The current BTO office director is Dr. Kerri Dugan, who joined joined DARPA as BTO's deputy in August 2019, and was named director in December 2020.[5] Her predecessor was Dr. Bradley Ringeisen, who joined DARPA as BTO’s deputy director in 2015 and was named director in 2019.
Active Programs
The BTO focused on leveraging advances in engineering and information sciences to drive and reshape biotechnology for technological advantage. BTO is responsible for all neurotechnology, human-machine interface, human performance, infectious disease, and synthetic biology programs within the agency.[6]
Advanced Plant Technologies (APT)
Atmospheric Water Extraction (AWE)
Autonomous Diagnostics to Enable Prevention and Therapeutics (ADEPT)
Battlefield Medicine
Bioelectronics for Tissue Regeneration (BETR)
Biological Control
Biological Robustness in Complex Settings (BRICS)
Biostasis
Bridging the Gap (BG+)
Detect It with Gene Editing Technologies (DIGET)
Dialysis-Like Therapeutics (DLT)
Electrical Prescriptions (ElectRx)
Engineered Living Materials (ELM)
Epigenetic CHaracterization and Observation (ECHO)