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Biobot - Molecular Software for Sewage Analysis in Wastewater Management
We analyze sewage with molecular technologies and AI to provide early warning of population health threats across the globe. We believe in the value of good data. At Biobot, we’re harnessing the power of wastewater to predict disease clusters and outbreaks, optimize healthcare resources, and fuel breakthroughs in disease treatment. It’s all possible with good data – data that’s comparable across time and location – thanks to our robust methods and years of expertise.
Born at MIT, we’ve spent over a decade looking at wastewater as a measure for population health. We analyze wastewater to track the spread of respiratory illnesses like COVID-19, influenza, and RSV in real-time and on a national scale. We also monitor high-risk drug use, enabling effective and proactive harm reduction strategies and the prediction of potential overdose events.
Biobot’s data is more than just a snapshot. It’s a validated early warning system, proven to predict hospitalizations and pinpoint areas where healthcare resources are most needed. Researchers leverage our cutting-edge insights to develop new treatments, while public health officials strategically allocate resources based on our real-time data. Wastewater’s potential is vast, offering a reliable and predictive indicator of population health trends across a wide range of threats.
Wastewater data represents all members of a community that contribute to a sewage system, regardless of healthcare access.
Analyses published in peer-reviewed scientific journals have shown that Biobot’s wastewater data can detect viral surges in wastewater up to two full weeks before hospital admissions spike.
Our SARS-CoV-2 data is strongly-correlated with COVID-19 cases. Our SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data from wastewater matches closely with clinical sequencing data.
Biobot’s data insights are industry leading (read more about it in Nature). We were the first company to commercialize wastewater-based epidemiology technology, and our foundations draw back to award-winning research at MIT. In 2021, Biobot was selected by the U.S. government to launch the first nationwide wastewater program for disease tracking, the CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS).
Overview
The COVID-19 pandemic brought accelerated adoption of wastewater intelligence (also known as wastewater epidemiology) to augment and complement other forms of public health monitoring. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater data was used as a leading indicator of clinical cases. And with the end of the public health emergency, wastewater data is one of the few last standing sources of truth still reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and many other health agencies.
Beyond COVID-19, wastewater is an untapped source of nearly limitless public health data. It is already in use for a multitude of other pathogens (mpox, influenza A and B, RSV, norovirus, etc) and high-risk substances, including opioids. Research is under way to further expand the use of wastewater monitoring to identify other biological threats in wastewater (sewage) from municipalities, transportation hubs like airports, and mass gathering sites like university campuses.
Here, we present our first Code of Conduct, outlining our principles and values that guide our company’s conduct, operations and decision-making. We anticipate that our Code will continue to evolve as we continue to expand the use of wastewater intelligence, but wish to share with the larger public health community in the spirit of transparency and collaboration.
We recognize that our work in wastewater intelligence has vast implications for public health and beyond, and that within every public health monitoring program lies potential for harm. We have a deep-rooted responsibility to conduct our work in a manner that promotes public health and net societal benefits. Ultimately, our mission is to build a global wastewater intelligence system that supports proactive public health for the benefit of the communities we serve, and beyond.
We respect the privacy of the individuals and communities whose wastewater we analyze. Wastewater samples are a naturally anonymized aggregation of a community which is not personally identifiable. Biobot does not use wastewater data to identify individuals or intentionally collect any human DNA data from wastewater. Biobot safeguards all sensitive data and shares data only as permitted by our partners.
Biobot believes that communities should be made aware of any monitoring, including that of wastewater. Biobot is committed to working with our partners wherever possible to ensure that the community is aware of any wastewater intelligence programs, including how the resulting data is being used.
We hold ourselves to the highest standards of scientific integrity and rigor in all of our work. Biobot will continue to validate all methods, protocols, analyses, and interpretations of our data. We will ensure our data is accurate, reliable, and reproducible, and will continue to evolve and iterate on best practices as our company and the field matures. We will be transparent about the limitations of our work, and provide clear and accessible information about the scope and objectives of our work.
We are global leaders in wastewater intelligence and work to build trust in the field by spreading knowledge, sharing best practices, and by developing partnerships that help educate the public and uplift the field. Biobot works with each customer to build wastewater intelligence programs that fit their needs and align with our ethical standards. We treat all clients, partners, and employees with respect, fairness, and integrity. Biobot will not engage in conduct that could compromise the ethical standards of our company or damage the field as a whole.
We analyze sewage with molecular technologies and AI to provide early warning of population health threats across the globe.
Explore a snapshot of our data below.
Understand the unique dynamics of a given disease
In today’s rapidly shifting population health and biosecurity landscapes, understanding the dynamics of any given disease through consistent monitoring is key to crafting interventions. Robust longitudinal datasets enable us to see patterns in viral evolution and disease dynamics, giving us the opportunity to forecast, predict, and plan for surges in viral activity.
SARS-CoV-2
Biobot’s wastewater data is generated by a single data collection & analysis method. This enables a comprehensive national picture and comparison across geographies.
Whether for biological or chemical targets, our wastewater data shows a national picture that can be drilled down to the regional, state, and local levels to gain better understanding of local and regional trends.
Omicron showed up in wastewater before symptoms led individuals to get clinically tested, if they chose to do so at all.
Wastewater data is an accurate representation of disease activity in our communities. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when PCR testing was easily accessible and reported to population health, wastewater and clinical testing data tracked very well, and Biobot’s wastewater data offered an average of a three week lead time on spikes in hospitalizations.
Our wastewater data has proven to be a crucial tool in the fight against infectious diseases, showing high correlations with hospitalizations for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. Not only is our wastewater data highly correlated with clinical data, but it is available 1-2 weeks ahead of publicly available clinical datasets. During the 2023-2024 respiratory season, the correlation between influenza A wastewater concentrations and flu hospitalizations was 0.96! This strong correlation underscores the reliability of wastewater monitoring as a near-real-time, predictive tool to help healthcare providers, public health, and vaccine and therapy developers anticipate surges in community viral activity, and allocate resources more effectively.
Biobot delivers variant sequencing that captures and reports new variants as they emerge. This is a critical input for healthcare providers, vaccine and therapy developers, and others to keep communities safe and healthy.
Tracking variant prevalence in wastewater also provides insight into shifting viral dynamics. As mutations in SARS-CoV-2 arise and variants emerge, therapeutics and vaccines may become less effective. Understanding which variants are present regionally via wastewater allows clinicians to tailor therapeutic recommendations for patients, and helps clinics and hospitals plan for therapeutic demand and resource allocation. Tracking real-time spread of variants can also inform clinical trials and strategize therapy and vaccine improvements for future seasons.
Even if a disease has a low prevalence (few active infections), the concentrated nature of wastewater can amplify the signal, making it easier to detect compared to relying solely on individual testing, which might miss isolated infections. An added benefit is the representation of asymptomatic cases. Wastewater doesn’t rely on individuals experiencing symptoms to get tested. It can pick up on those who might not realize they’re infected but are still shedding the virus, potentially contributing to its spread.
This chart shows the percentage of positive detections per week of the mpox virus (MPXV) present in samples of wastewater taken from across the United States, grouped by region, between October and December 2022 as well as the number of clinical cases reported nationally by week during the same time period.
Wastewater data can separate out viruses with similar symptoms – like COVID-19, influenza, and RSV, to inform healthcare providers and government officials about true community viral activity. Why is this important? Treatments and community protection approaches vary by disease, even among diseases with similar symptoms. Data on case counts or hospitalizations are often only the tip of the iceberg of population health, and understanding the true extent of viral activity is crucial for decision making.
Biobot’s Respiratory Risk Reports, published weekly throughout the respiratory virus season in the United States, offer a comprehensive national and regional view of circulating respiratory viruses. Our data science and epidemiology teams analyze data on COVID-19, influenza A & B, and RSV. The reports provide insights that can help you make informed decisions about your health by shedding light on emerging trends in respiratory virus activity and community viral load.
What you’ll find in the reports:
- National & regional trends: Understand trends in wastewater and clinical burden for respiratory viruses across the US.
- Expert analysis: Get insights from our data scientists and epidemiologists.
- Actionable information: Make informed decisions about your health, especially during peak transmission periods.