Fieldstone Bio founder Brandon Fields saw a thrilling connection, however. In order to accelerate the microbes’ capacity to detect and respond to certain signals, the company isolates these microbes from specialized environments to enhance those particular capabilities. Photograph by David W. Sejnowski “We take microbes from environments that we wish to sense,” explained Fields. This groundbreaking method makes it possible to monitor toxic substances with physical accuracy by harnessing the natural skills of tiny microbes.
The technology is predicated on a hyperspectral camera. It splits both visible and infrared light into up to 600 distinct colors. By collecting the entire spectrum of data, the company is able to create highly accurate and comprehensive maps of environmental conditions. Fields highlighted the potential inherent in AI. It’s only with new high-throughput methods that we’re able to detect and read out faint signals, allowing us to produce stunning heat maps that illustrate a microbe’s ability to sense and respond to its environment.
To ensure compliance with regulations, Fields confirmed that the company has been in contact with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This forward-thinking approach demonstrates Fieldstone Bio’s dedication to following the rules to drive innovation in the field of environmental monitoring technology.
Fieldstone Bio uses new gene-edited microbial sensors that can be easily broadcast across agricultural fields. The ability to use these sensors provides order-of-magnitude better resolution compared with traditional methods for mapping environmental hazards. According to Patrick Stone, a key collaborator, “Instead of going to do core soil samples over every 100 feet — and then you have 100 foot resolution — we could get a one-inch resolution and really map out exactly where they need to go clean up stuff.”
Fields imagines a day when microbial sensors will deploy by themselves with no direct human application. Beyond allowing automated enforcement, they will allow for real-time monitoring. And yeah, you will not even put that microbe at the very least,” he mentioned. Ultimately, he hopes these systems can one day act independently in their surroundings.
Fieldstone Bio’s technology development dovetails nicely with our current surge in easy access to data on the state of our environment. This rich data is now available from satellites and new environmental sensors. This wealth of information can be harnessed alongside Fieldstone’s microbial data for more effective analysis and decision-making regarding environmental cleanup efforts.