TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 5 16 16 According to neuroscientist and NeoSensory co-founder David Eagleman, Ph.D., who developed the technology alongside Novich as part of the latter's doctoral thesis, applause feels a little bit like a massage. "As soon as you put it on, you can start to gain a basic sense of the sound around you," Novich said. "But generally, you're not going to immediately understand that. It takes a lot of training. In that sense, it's similar to learning a new alphabet, but with a bit more information." There are approximately 70 million people on the planet who have profound hearing loss, according to the World Federation of the Deaf. At a projected retail cost of less than $1,000, the vest is expected to sell for one fortieth the price of a cochlear implant. For Novich, whose eyes grow wide with excitement at the prospect of augmenting existing senses, the potential applications don't stop there. "The idea there is that maybe you can start devel- oping these deeper intuitions," Novich said. "Let's say you're an airplane pilot and you have all these sensors attached to a remote vehicle. What if you mapped all this information through the vest to you? The vehicle would become an extension of yourself. "Personally, I'm really interested in gaining 'super- senses' for senses that we already have," he added. "Imagine if you had the ability to give yourself super- sonic or subsonic hearing, to hear like an elephant, or even see outside your normal visual range. Are all of these things possible? I like to think so." Several rooms over, the boundaries of possibility are being tested in another way. At DNAtrix, a biotechnology company with offices in both Houston and San Diego, the most valuable weapon in their battle against cancer—specifically, a devastat- ing brain tumor known as glioblastoma—is a modified version of a virus that causes all of us to reach for our tissues this time of year: the common cold. "What we've done is take advantage of the fact that viruses are really good at getting into certain cells and making copies of themselves—that's a natural prop- erty," said Frank Tufaro, Ph.D., chief executive officer of DNAtrix. "The drug that we've developed is what's known as an oncolytic virus, which normally causes the common cold, but has been modified so that it's very aggressive and can only infect and kill tumor cells. We inject it into a brain tumor, and once it's there, it starts killing the tumor, cell by cell. It's an amplification of the virus itself." Known as DNX-2401, the company's flagship product represents the culmination of more than a decade of scientific research. Originally the brainchild of scientists and neuro-oncologists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Tufaro and his colleagues are confident that DNX-2401 is the most potent and effective oncolytic virus delivered to human brain tumors to date. "This is the most aggressive virus ever put into the human brain, but we've modified it so that it actually recognizes the tumor cell, specifically, sticks to it, and infects it," Tufaro said. "If you put that together— the ability to replicate, the potency of the virus, and the safety factor of having it only target tumor cells— you can put it into the brain in pretty high doses without worrying. "We've seen it shown in over 100 patients that DNX-2041 is not only safe, but it has the capacity to eliminate tumors," he added. "Some of our patients have been alive for over four years who have been treated with a single dose of the virus. The next challenge will be to improve upon how many people respond." While the companies' aspirations are as different as their offerings, collocated office space isn't the only thing bringing them together. They're all driven by that same sense of purpose, passion and possibility. "It's not going to be just one drug or product that is a cure-all," said Imran Alibhai, Ph.D., managing direc- tor for DNAtrix's Houston offices. "There are going to be many that come to market in order to provide fruitful solutions for patients. We feel fortunate to be a part of a collaborative environment bringing these advances forward." It's not going to be just one drug or product that is a cure-all. There are going to be many that come to market in order to provide fruitful solutions for patients. We feel fortunate to be a part of a collaborative environment bringing these advances forward. — IMRAN ALIBHAI, PH.D. Managing Director for DNAtrix

• Cover