Handheld and Field Sensors for Dicamba and other Herbicides and Pesticides

Herbicides since their advent in the early 1950's have been a tremendous and invaluable tool toproduction agriculture.Since that time the agricultural crop production market has changedconsiderably due to a number of technological innovations including the introduction ofgenetically modified organisms (GMO) crops.Although surrounded by some controversy theability to genetically engineer certain seeds to be resistant to specific herbicides or pesticides hasrevolutionized the market for several of the world's most important food products.It isestimated that nearly ninety percent of all corn and soybeans now grown worldwide are GMO's.Project ObjectivesThis project aims to develop an important tool which is currently non-existent.Specificallyduring Phase I we developed a prototype electrochemical aptamer-based sensor or "aptasensor"for the herbicide dicamba.Dicamba has been used for years however the recent development ofdicamba-resistant and dual-resistant GMO soybeans to dicamba and glyphosate have left farmerswith insufficient tools to protect sensitive fields from sprayer contamination or herbicide drift.Our approach is highly innovative in that it utilizes a relatively new form of test reagent - DNAaptamers and novel reporting methods which will enable the farmer to quickly and inexpensivelyassay spray tanks and equipment as well as arbitrary water samples in the field.Anticipated Results and Commercial ApplicationsBy the end of the Phase II effort we will have established a novel platform for routine fieldtesting of arbitrary water samples for dicamba.The test will have a sensitivity relevant tomonitoring spray equipment for residual herbicide which could devastate sensitive non- engineered crops.In addition to a handheld endpoint test using the electrochemical reader (muchlike a personal glucose meter) we are also in talks with major farm equipment manufacturers todevelop a reversible "on-line" or real-time sensor that can be inserted into the boom of standardspray equipment.Both versions of these smart sensors will be able to collect time and locationdata via Bluetooth or LTE for precision farming and record keeping.The test(s) we propose developing will directly serve a multibillion dollar market and aid foodproducers and researchers to better understand crop science.