Biobot Analytics is an American biotechnology company that specializes in wastewater-based epidemiology headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company analyzes wastewater samples to measure the concentration of various substances, including pathogens, illicit drugs, and other public health indicators. Biobot was founded in 2017 at MIT by computational biologist Mariana Matus and architect Newsha Ghaeli.[1][2]
 | |
| Industry | Biotechnology |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2017 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Products | Wastewater analysis |
| Website | biobot |
History
editIn 2018, Biobot began working with Y Combinator and was awarded their first contract by the city of Cary, North Carolina to analyze the city's wastewater for the presence of opioids.[3][4][5] In March 2020, the company initiated a wastewater-based surveillance program for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of COVID-19 pandemic. By June of that year, the program had expanded to analyze samples from over 400 locations.[6] The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded Biobot a contract to expand their SARS-CoV-2 wastewater testing and reporting services to additional communities in 2021, covering 30% of the US population in total.[7][8] In 2022, the CDC expanded their contract with Biobot to begin testing for the virus that causes mpox.[9]
References
edit- ^ "About". Biobot Analytics. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ Arnaud, Celia (8 March 2020). "Mariana Matus means to combat the opioid epidemic with chemical data". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ "Testing Wastewater For Opioids: North Carolina Town Pilots New Technology". WBUR. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ Chen, Justin (26 June 2018). "Scientists can track the spread of opioids in sewers. But do cities want to know what lies below?". STAT News. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ Kaufman, Rachel (22 August 2018). "Sewage May Hold the Key to Tracking Opioid Abuse". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ Leiber, Nick (1 June 2020). "A Startup Is Testing Sewage to Trace the U.S. Spread of Covid". Bloomberg. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ Stone, Judy (1 December 2023). "CDC Improves Its Covid-19 Reporting With A New Wastewater Dashboard". Forbes. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ Kirby, Amy (24 May 2021). "Biobot CDC Letter of Support" (PDF). Biobot. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ Adams C, Kirby AE, Bias M, Riser A, Wong KK, Mercante JW, Reese H (January 2024). "Detecting Mpox Cases Through Wastewater Surveillance - United States, August 2022-May 2023". Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 73 (2): 37–43. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7302a3. PMC 10803092. PMID 38236784.