What is the SPACE RACE Competition?

In the SPACE RACE startup challenge, teams compete to build products and launch startups using NASA technologies. This initiative allows startup companies access to NASA technologies for three years with no fees to get off the ground. Orchestrated by the Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) and sponsored by NASA, this competition took 300 participants and fine-tuned their startup business models, while allowing them to work alongside NASA’s engineers and benefit from a rigorous mentorship program. There were 11 winners and four finalists, which will move to the next phase of the competition. Among the winners of the NASA invention, LAR-TOPS- 97 – Biomaterials Contamination Mitigation, is Genetoo, a team from John Hopkins.

Team Genetoo’s Progress

NASA provided a patent that was previously used in space missions. Genetoo used the patent and found a way to apply it to the healthcare market. Team Genetoo is composed of several students from Johns Hopkins University. Currently, Genetoo is incorporating and acquiring a license for the technology. Once Genetoo acquires the license, it can begin deploying the technology to various health care markets. Genetoo believes that their product will have an impact on the future of healthcare by reducing medical costs for patients.

The Winning Technology

Genetoo focused its efforts on a NASA patent, entitled “Surface Particle Contamination Mitigation Methods,” which they designed to deliver technology able to significantly impact healthcare in the United States and the rest of the globe. The patent that Genetoo used describes a method in which laser technology can be used to modify surfaces topologically. Genetoo is combining the laser technology with specific chemical coatings to design “superhydrophobic” surfaces with enhanced anti-bacterial properties. Genetoo wants to deploy this technology, used on space missions, to improve the healthcare system. This technology is expected to cut both economic costs and any risk of implications from infections that would require further surgeries.

To learn more about this technology, or Genetoo, contact them today.