In California, Two Pore Guys, Inc. entered into an agreement with Monsanto Company enabling the global agriculture company to evaluate the performance of 2PG’s rapid detection system under laboratory and field conditions. Initial assays to be developed will be for the detection of certain biomolecules in crops, pests and pathogens.
Unlike biological nanopores used in some DNA sequencing technologies, 2PG’s devices employ silicon nanopore chips, which are simple and inexpensive passive sensors that examine a wide range of individual analytes — including both nucleic acids and proteins — with very high sensitivity. The simplicity of the design may allow for rapid, inexpensive testing in a small, hand-held format.
“Monsanto is looking forward to evaluating 2PG’s novel, rapid and portable detection platform within our testing operations,” said Tom Adams, Vice President and Biotechnology Lead for Monsanto. “Technologies like this are consistent with our work to deliver more productive and sustainable solutions for agriculture.”