Alveo, Corteva partner in advancing crop disease diagnostics

Alameda, California-based Alveo Technologies Inc. is collaborating with Corteva Agriscience to expand the offering of its eco-friendly molecular sensing and disease diagnostics technology to include a first-in-field agricultural disease diagnostic.

Alveo has developed a handheld, portable medical-grade platform known as be.well that pairs advanced molecular assays with cloud-enabled data analytics for real-time pathogen analysis and disease diagnosis. The platform was designed from the bottom up to enable detection and diagnosis of pathogens earlier given its portability, ease of use, robust and rugged design, multiplexing capability, high accuracy, coupled with fast times to result. Alveo says the platform provides accurate results in less than an hour — without the need to send a sample to a lab.

Using this molecular testing platform, Corteva scientists aim to design crop-specific assays to detect pathogens in the field.

alveo-technologies — Image courtesy of Alveo Technologies

“Alveo has developed a game changing, mobile ‘molecular lab’ that can deliver highly sensitive and specific diagnostic testing where it is needed, which can help solve some of the world’s most complex problems, like pandemics and global food crises,” said Alveo CEO Shaun Holt. “Our collaboration with Corteva reflects our core focus of taking molecular testing out of the lab and directly to the point of need where it can deliver insight and guidance. This partnership extends the technology beyond healthcare and into agricultural applications.”

Alveo’s be.well platform is a point-of-care infectious disease diagnostic platform that utilizes the company’s proprietary and globally patented method for the direct electrical sensing of nucleic acid amplification. This technology eliminates the need for specialized lighting and expensive optical detectors, while also simplifying certain aspects of primer manufacturing, providing a more robust and reliable diagnostic instrument. Corteva scientists will explore three components of the platform to develop agri-based assays: the be.well Analyzer, a portable, palm-sized, rechargeable device; the be.well Cartridge which contains the reagents required for an isothermal amplification reaction; and the be.well Mobile App which offers step by step guidance on administering the test, cloud-connectivity for reporting and tracking results, and back-end analytics for deeper insights into pathogen behavior.