RBC-Factory

Warfighters operate in environments that stress physiology and present conditions that can compromise health and reduce readiness. 

Stressors may include extreme heat or cold, pathogens, or endemic diseases such as malaria. 

Warfighters often enter these conditions with little or no physiological preparation or protection. Increased preparedness prior to deployment and enduring protection while in theater is needed for service members to operate effectively in these challenging environments. 

To address these issues, DARPA’s RBC-Factory program aims to create a medical device-based platform to insert additional biologically active components (e.g., cargoes) into human red blood cells (RBCs) and assess the ethical, legal, and social impacts (ELSI) of the device(s) for cargo insertion and the modified RBCs, respectively.