The Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Biological Technologies Office (BTO), has a program for RBC-Factory.

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The contractor shall provide services to meet the following:

• DARPA is soliciting innovative proposals in support of the RBC-Factory program.
• RBC Factory will create a medical device-based platform to accessorize human red blood cells (RBCs) with additional biologically active components (aka cargoes). Warfighters operate in environments that stress physiology in many ways.
• Red blood cells with cargoes will allow recipients to maintain performance in these environments.
• RBC-Factory will generate foundational knowledge and produce a prototype to explore the limits of integrating different cargoes into RBCs.
• Warfighters often enter these conditions with little or no physiological preparation or protection, thus reducing operational readiness. Increased preparedness prior to deployment and enduring protection while in theater is needed for service members to operate effectively in extreme environments.
• Modified red blood cells will allow recipients such as warfighters to operate more effectively in dangerous or extreme environments.
• Biologically active components (‘cargoes’) are defined herein as small molecules, peptides, proteins, pigments, colloids, and nanomaterials of either human-made or natural origin.
• RBC-Factory principally seeks novel approaches to modify RBC at scale with demonstrations that are substantiated by prototypes.
• Approaches that seek to introduce new genetic material or modify existing genetic material are out of scope for RBC-Factory.