Messenger RNAs (mRNAs) have recently entered the stage as therapeutic modality. Examples are the mRNA-based vaccines against infection by SARS-Cov2. Hundreds of research groups in academia and industry aim to better understand the multiplicity of the mRNA technology and its possible applications. However, at present researchers are unable to control when and where the mRNA is translated into proteins – which then have a pharmacological effect. This is a bottleneck that severely limits the research needed to further develop mRNA as a therapeutic modality. We present FlashCaps, the first applicable solution that allows mRNA studies to be driven by light without altering the structure or sequence of the natural mRNA. Light is an excellent external control element that can be applied with high precision in space and time and without interfering with cellular processes. FlashCaps prevent the translation of the mRNA until activated by light. FlashCaps are compatible with all standard mRNA production and application procedures and thus of interest to all research groups and companies working on mRNA to date. In this proof of concept, we will determine the innovation potential of FlashCaps with a team of highly qualified scientists and innovation managers. Technological research to ensure reproducibility, stability, scalability, and quality of FlashCaps will be performed. User-friendly applicability of FlashCaps is achieved through the involvement of beta-testers. Innovation management research, including market analyses, data analytics and consumer interviews, is conducted to define the potential customers and their needs, to analyse the market potential and to investigate our competitors. Based on the research results and the agile exchange between the technological and innovation management research, we will decide on the best way of knowledge transfer to make FlashCaps available to the growing number of mRNA researchers.

Volatiles cycle plays a critical role in the humanity’s existence by defining the habitability conditions prevailing at the Earth’s surface. Mantle is a major actor of this cycle by hosting considerable proportions of carbon, and also hydrogen. Understanding the exchanges and fluxes of carbon (and water) between the upper mantle and exosphere remains a primary goal in the Earth sciences community, but critically prevented by the lack of fundamental constrains on the mobility and migration rates of volatile-bearing melts (i.e., CO2-H2O-bearing melts) that are important conveyors for the distribution of volatiles. Therefore, the aim of the MoVEMENT project is to combine fundamental constraints on the physical properties (density and viscosity) of volatile-bearing melts with complex modelling to gain a quantitative understanding of the deep volatile cycles and related geophysical processes inside the planet. The applicant will achieve these scientific breakthroughs by combining two novel approaches: first, he will capitalize on new experimental methods at synchrotron sources to acquire missing data on the density and viscosity of carbon-bearing melts at high pressure; second, he will integrate the novel data into rigorous and continuous computer models for the density and viscosity of volatile-bearing melts. The new models will allow predictions of the mobility of volatile-bearing melts in a range of pressure, temperature (20 GPa – 2500 °C ) and compositions, i.e. from carbonatites (CO2-rich melts) to basalts (SiO2-rich melts), that span the conditions for melts stabilized in the upper mantle. Specifically, the results will be applied to quantify volatile-mediated processes in the upper mantle, including the migration/ascent/emplacement of melts through the mantle, ultimately leading to a new understanding of volatile mobility and recycling in the deep Earth.