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Our Technology

En Carta leverages a wide array of tools from the exciting field of synthetic biology.

At the edge of innovation, we leverage laboratory science to make accessible and reliable healthcare tools.

Sensors

Our sensors are built from RNA or DNA. Groundbreaking proprietary technology derived from toehold switches can detect any pathogen's RNA or DNA, down to single-nucleotide precision.

With the cost of "printing" DNA rapidly coming down, our patented technology has a competitive advantage that grows fast.

Paper-Based

By freeze-drying our sensors in any porous materials, we can store and ship accessible diagnostics everywhere, eliminating the need for cold chain.

Easy to use

Our systems are optimized for a single step reaction with visual readout that can be run and interpreted by anyone.

Sustainable

Our testing cassette ensures optimal reaction conditions yet does not require alkaline batteries – this makes it the only molecular point-of-care diagnostic device providing PCR-grade accuracy without generating toxic waste.

Foundational publications

Field validation of the performance of paper-based tests

2022 - Nature biomedical engineering

Toehold Switches: De-Novo-Designed Regulators of Gene Expression

2014 - Cell

Paper-Based Synthetic Gene Networks

2014 - Cell

Rapid, Low-Cost Detection of Zika Virus Using Programmable Biomolecular Components

2016 - Cell

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