Biobot Analytics
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Biotechnology, Wastewater-based epidemiology |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Founder | Mariana Matus, Newsha Ghaeli |
| Headquarters | Cambridge , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Mariana Matus, Newsha Ghaeli |
| Products | Wastewater analysis for public health monitoring |
Biobot Analytics is a biotechnology firm based in the United States, with its headquarters located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company specializes in wastewater-based epidemiology, utilizing wastewater analysis to detect levels of various substances including pathogens, illegal drugs, and indicators relevant to public health. Established in 2017 at the MIT by computational biologist Mariana Matus and architect Newsha Ghaeli, Biobot aims to transform chemical data into actionable insights for health monitoring.
History
Biobot formed a partnership with Y Combinator in 2018 and secured its initial contract with Cary, North Carolina to monitor opioid presence through wastewater analysis. By March 2020, the firm initiated a surveillance program targeting the SARS-CoV-2 virus via wastewater testing, which expanded to more than 400 sites by June of the same year. In 2021, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded Biobot a contract to broaden SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring nationwide, covering approximately 30% of the American population. The following year, 2022, the CDC extended this agreement to incorporate testing for the virus responsible for mpox.