Oct 24, 2023

Corteva, Alveo to develop field disease diagnostics

Corteva Agriscience is partnering with Alveo Technologies to expand the offering of new eco-friendly molecular sensing and disease diagnostics technologies.

The partnership of the ag chemical and seed and molecular diagnostic products companies plan to develop a first-in-field agricultural disease diagnostic, according to a news release.

Alveo has developed a rapid, handheld, portable medical-grade platform that pairs advanced molecular assays or laboratory investigative procedures with cloud-enabled data analytics for real-time disease, pathogen analysis and diagnosis. Using a sensitive multiplexed molecular testing platform, Corteva scientists aim to design crop-specific assays to detect pathogens in the field.

Alveo’s trademarked 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. The technology eliminates the need for specialized lighting and expensive optical detectors, while also simplifying 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, according to the release.

“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,” Shaun Holt, Alveo’s CEO, said in the release. “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.”

The collaboration reflects both companies’ open-source philosophy and desire to build together across sectors and technologies, according to the release.

“Corteva Agriscience explores the latest technologies as we strive to bring actionable insights and solutions to farmers where and when they need them,” Gina Zastrow-Hayes, Corteva’s Technical Director for Seed, R&D & Biotechnology, said in the release. “We are pleased to explore this feasibility with Alveo and are excited by the potential that in-field molecular testing platforms hold for the agricultural industry.”

Based in Alameda, California, Alveo’s portable diagnostic products bypass the need for centralized lab testing and through molecular detection technologies help expand early disease detection in sectors including agriculture, food safety, sanitation and healthcare.

Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Corteva Agriscience is global agriculture company whose roots go back to 1802 as a part of Dow and DuPont. Corteva’s agricultural chemicals and seeds helps growers enhance yields and protect resources