24 January 2021

BioBot Analytics > If COVID-19 Testing is This Easy, Why Doesn't The City of Mesa Do It?

That's the question today at the same time BioBot Analytics looks for COVID in wastewater for about 200 cities and counties.
Biobot Analytics

AI startup Biobot will map spread of COVID-19 in sewers - Business Insider

Biobot Analytics, a startup that analyzes wastewater to gain insights into public health, has begun requesting sewage samples from wastewater treatment facilities across the U.S. to test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19.

The company’s technology, developed by CEO Mariana Matus PhD ’18 during her time at MIT in partnership with Newsha Ghaeli, then a research fellow in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, has been geared toward estimating drug consumption in communities since its founding in 2017.

Biobot uses a proprietary device to gather representative samples of sewage, then ships those samples to its scientists for near-real time testing. Samples can be used to track opioid use, nutrition, environmental contaminants, antibiotic resistance, and the spread of infectious diseases. The resulting insights can be used to understand the health and well-being of small communities or large cities.

In the company’s Covid-19 testing program, which it launched pro bono in collaboration with researchers at MIT, Harvard, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the teams will process sewage samples from treatment facilities across the U.S., then use a laboratory technique known as a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2.

The collaborators believe the program could complement existing testing methods in addition to helping guide community reponses, measure the effectiveness of interventions, and provide an early warning for re-emergence of the outbreak.

Biobot Analytics to Track COVID-19 in Sewage Pro Bono

Repurposing analytics it used to produce data on the opioid epidemic, Biobot is offering a pro bono water testing program to contribute data to the health community’s growing understanding of the pandemic.

by / March 31, 2020
The United States has more confirmed COVID-19 cases than any other nation, and experts predict the numbers will peak in April. The true scope of the pandemic will be difficult to gauge, because testing here remains limited, but experts have been unequivocal that tracking the spread of the virus is crucial for fighting it.
That’s why Biobot Analytics, a startup that launched three years ago out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is repurposing its wastewater testing technology to find coronavirus in sewers — and offering it practically for free to local government. . .

Biobot Analytics 26 March 2020 https://news.mit.edu/2020/mit-companies-covid-19-0326

Biobot Analytics, a startup that analyzes wastewater to gain insights into public health, has begun requesting sewage samples from wastewater treatment facilities across the U.S. to test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19.

The company’s technology, developed by CEO Mariana Matus PhD ’18 during her time at MIT in partnership with Newsha Ghaeli, then a research fellow in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, has been geared toward estimating drug consumption in communities since its founding in 2017.

Biobot uses a proprietary device to gather representative samples of sewage, then ships those samples to its scientists for near-real time testing. Samples can be used to track opioid use, nutrition, environmental contaminants, antibiotic resistance, and the spread of infectious diseases. The resulting insights can be used to understand the health and well-being of small communities or large cities.

In the company’s Covid-19 testing program, which it launched pro bono in collaboration with researchers at MIT, Harvard, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the teams will process sewage samples from treatment facilities across the U.S., then use a laboratory technique known as a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2.

The collaborators believe the program could complement existing testing methods in addition to helping guide community reponses, measure the effectiveness of interventions, and provide an early warning for re-emergence of the outbreak.

 
 here's some news back in April 2020 (and in earlier posts on this blog)

How many people are infected with Covid-19? Sewage suggests that number is much higher than officially confirmed

Biobot Analytics a Twitter: "#COVID19 levels in wastewater are rising  across the country - so how exactly does Biobot detect the virus in sewage?  Check out this infographic to learn more aboutTL;DR: In an area with 446 reported cases, our sewage-based method estimates up to 115,000.

Estimating the true number of COVID-19 cases is extremely challenging. Counting confirmed clinical cases provides an important view into the scope of this pandemic, but case counts are a dramatic underestimate due to limited access to clinical testing. Moreover, asymptomatic patients or those with mild symptoms may never seek out testing in the first place, but they are potentially still contagious.

SARS-CoV-2 is shed in stool and has been detected in sewage in the U.S. by our team, and in the Netherlands by the KWR Research Institute.

Sewage suggests that a much larger number of people are infected with Covid-19.BostInno - Biobot Analytics finds COVID-19 cases 'an order of magnitude  higher' than tests reveal
Yesterday our team published in medRxiv the first study to estimate the number of people infected with Covid-19 based on the levels of SARS-CoV-2 quantified in sewage. We collected sewage samples from a large metropolitan area in the state of Massachusetts. On March 25, the area represented by the sample had approximately 446 confirmed cases of Covid-19. Based on our sewage analysis, we estimate that up to 115,000 people are infected and shedding the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Our laboratory protocols were validated to quantify SARS-CoV-2 in sewage
Our detailed laboratory protocols have been made available open source to the scientific community on our website . . .

Beyond our own technical limitations, there are possible explanations why sewage is giving a higher number of infected people, as compared to confirmed cases:

  • People with mild symptoms may not go to the hospital, or get tested,
  • There is growing evidence that Covid-19 could have a large asymptomatic population,
  • Limited access to clinical testing, and
  • A lag in reporting confirmed cases.

Next steps to make our Covid-19 case estimation more accurate.
Our next step to make our Covid-19 case estimation model more accurate is to model the person-to-person variability in SARS-CoV-2 shedding in stool. Our team is already in conversation with other academic groups tackling this issue. Kudos to academic collaboration!

Sewage samples collected from geographical areas with different rates of Covid-19 infection will also make our modeling more accurate. We will be announcing our campaign shortly. For more information, sign up at www.biobot.io/covid19

Press releases

January
2021

Biobot Analytics again hailed for leadership in applying wastewater analytics to Covid-19

Cambridge, Mass. - Biobot Analytics

December
2020

Biobot Analytics Named Technology of the Year

Cambridge, Mass. - Biobot Analytics

August
2020

A First: Wastewater Analytics Helps Guide COVID Safety Decisions for Reopening Schools

Cambridge, Mass. - Biobot Analytics

Recent articles

JAN
2021

Essential: The 2021 GovTech 100

Government Technology · BIOBOT ANALYTICS

JAN
2021

COVID Levels in Boston Area's Sewers Hit New Record, Much Higher Than in 1st Surge

NBC 10 Boston · BIOBOT ANALYTICS

DEC
2020

Flushing out the coronavirus: Universities, cities and states are testing wastewater for the virus

The Washington Post · BIOBOT ANALYTICS

DEC
2020

How Wastewater in Sewers Can Detect COVID Levels

NBC 10 Boston · BIOBOT ANALYTICS

DEC
2020

Tracking COVID-19 with wastewater testing in the U.S.

CGTN America · BIOBOT ANALYTICS

DEC
2020

Traces of coronavirus in wastewater at Deer Island plant tick down

The Boston Globe · BIOBOT ANALYTICS

DEC
2020

Wastewater testing reveals COVID-19 spike in Rio Dell, city officials say

KRCR (ABC) Redding, CA · BIOBOT ANALYTICS

DEC
2020

Where does the U.S. stand in widespread sewage testing for COVID-19?

NBC LEX 18 Lexington · BIOBOT ANALYTICS

 

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