Bill Thies and the team of 99DOTS aim to achieve 99% TB drug adherence using a combination of basic mobile phones and augmented blister packaging to provide real-time medication monitoring at drastically reduced cost. The approach is to utilize a custom envelope, or blister card, into which each pack of medication is inserted and sealed by the care provider. When the patient dispenses medication from the blister pack, the pills also break through perforated flaps on the blister card. On the back side of each flap is a hidden number. Patients submit these numbers using their mobile phone as evidence that they have dispensed medication. To avoid incurring any mobile charges, the numbers are used to complete a phone number and deliver a "Missed call" (Missed calls are free if they are not pointed to a VoiceMail). Using this system patients also receive a series of daily reminders (via SMS and automated calls). Missed doses trigger SMS notifications to care providers, who follow up with personal, phone-based counseling. Real-time adherence reports are also made available on the web.

Chase Beisel of North Carolina State University in the U.S. will exploit non-lytic bacteriophage for promoting infant gut health and treating enteric infections in low-resource settings. Generally, lytic phage are being studied for treating diseases, but they suffer from a number of limitations including causing resistance and the release of endotoxins, which can damage healthy cells. They will use the CRISPR-Cas9 defense system to engineer non-lytic P1 phage to specifically target the bacteria Shigella sonnei, which is a leading cause of enteric diseases in children in the developing world. The engineered phage, which can be produced at low cost, will be tested for ability to efficiently infect and kill the targeted bacteria.

Robert (Bruce) Cary of Mesa Tech International, Inc. in the U.S. proposes to develop nucleic acid purification systems that use a novel configuration of lateral flow materials to bind and wash nucleic acids to yield amplification-­ready samples. These devices could provide purified samples from clinical specimens within minutes without user intervention, instrumentation, electricity or costly materials.

Virginia Cornish and Nili Ostrov at Columbia University in the U.S. propose to engineer baker's yeast to produce the red tomato pigment lycopene when exposed to the cholera pathogen in drinking water. This safe and simple sensor could be inexpensively manufactured and highly effective for household monitoring of cholera in water by communities at risk for infection.