In the year 2010, Noah Wilson-Rich found himself balancing multiple jobs while pursuing his PhD in biology at Tufts University. Alongside his academic commitments, he undertook teaching roles at various nearby educational institutions. Additionally, once a week, he served as a bartender at a café located within the Hult International Business School's lobby.
During one of his bartending shifts, Wilson-Rich overheard patrons discussing an entrepreneurship competition. seizing the opportunity, he entered the competition the following day, presenting a business concept centered around gathering insect health data from beehives. Reflecting on the surprise of the crowd, he recounted, "They were like, 'The bartender won?' Alright, everyone needs to appreciate their service staff."
With a prize of two thousand dollars from the competition, Wilson-Rich kickstarted The Best Bees Company. Over a decade later, the company now provides beekeeping services to both corporate and residential clients in nearly two dozen cities across the United States. Among their offerings is the "HoneyDNA" kit, priced at up to $450, which utilizes environmental DNA (eDNA) to assess a hive's health or offer insights into the honey's origin, explained Wilson-Rich. Launched in 2015, the kit includes a sample bottle and prepaid envelope; upon receipt, Best Bees forwards honey samples to a laboratory for sequencing, revealing the plant DNA present in the hive's product. This information can unveil details such as the bees' foraging habits, including if they've been feeding on lavender, or their flight range from the hive. Additionally, the company provides corporate sustainability impact reports.
Amidst a commercial environment increasingly emphasizing environmental responsibility driven by both consumer preferences and regulatory standards, Best Bees stands out as one of the numerous enterprises carving a niche. The utilization of environmental DNA testing, which enables data collection from minute traces of skin, scales, and secretions shed by organisms as they traverse their surroundings, is portrayed as a cost-effective and streamlined method for assessing a corporation's environmental footprint.
Advocates pushing for regulatory approval, alongside a coalition of prominent consulting firms and eDNA specialists, view this technology as a promising avenue for monitoring corporate sustainability efforts. This encompasses evaluating the efficacy of conservation initiatives or assessing the potential impacts of infrastructure projects such as new bridges or parking lots. However, experts caution that while eDNA presents notable advantages, it also carries limitations and drawbacks. Consequently, it is currently regarded as most effective when employed as part of a broader suite of monitoring techniques. This suggests that while the technology is unlikely to completely overhaul the environmental consulting sector, valued at over $34 billion globally in 2020 according to The Insight Partners, it does present novel opportunities for data gathering and monetization.
In the realm of eDNA services, both industry representatives and researchers emphasize that we are still in the early stages of comprehending its full range of capabilities and potential applications. Individuals like Wilson-Rich are at the forefront, innovating entirely new approaches to market and deliver eDNA services.
Ryan Kelly, an ecologist and legal scholar at the University of Washington, who collaborates with government agencies on ecosystem management, emphasized, "It's not merely about pursuing science for its own sake. We're developing tools that evidently have the potential to address previously unexplored questions or enhance efficiency, affordability, and speed in job performance."
Prior to the commencement of major infrastructure projects, governmental bodies and regulatory authorities frequently mandate that companies demonstrate their commitment to preserving the natural environment in the proposed project area. The entities responsible for conducting these assessments, including some large multinational corporations, have evolved into a distinct industry. Projections from The Insight Partners indicate that by 2028, the environmental consulting market is anticipated to achieve a value of $50 billion.
eDNA holds the promise of significantly streamlining and reducing the costs associated with the work of these companies.
Nicole Fahner, executive director at CEGA, an eDNA research and development center, and eDNAtec, a Canadian eDNA company, notes that traditional environmental monitoring can be a labor-intensive process. It often necessitates teams of highly skilled biologists and ecologists, who may find themselves working in diverse and expansive environments such as deserts and dense forests. These teams typically deploy various tools and techniques, including traps, cameras, and remote sensing equipment. For aquatic environments like lakes, streams, or reservoirs, scientists may resort to using electrified rods to temporarily stun fish, facilitating their identification and enumeration. These surveys may need to be conducted repeatedly over several months, sometimes necessitating nighttime operations to coincide with the anticipated appearance of certain species.
According to Fahner, conducting surveys becomes even more arduous in remote regions of the deep ocean, particularly areas targeted by offshore wind and oil exploration projects. The depths pose significant logistical challenges, as they are hard to access, and some regions harbor species that remain unidentified and uncatalogued.
Kelly highlighted that environmental monitoring consulting holds substantial value as an industry, primarily due to the need to comply with regulatory mandates. He emphasized that if companies could adopt more efficient and effective approaches to meet these requirements, they would undoubtedly do so.
Advocates of environmental DNA emphasize its efficiency. eDNA sampling necessitates fewer personnel collecting air, soil, or water using inexpensive bottles or vials. The majority of the process occurs in the laboratory, where companies extract DNA from samples, sequence it, and input the results into a database to identify species matches. eDNA tests have the capability to pinpoint a particular species, such as an endangered animal or an invasive plant, or offer an overview of an entire ecosystem. Moreover, researchers are developing techniques for live sequencing in the field.
Presently, industry experts highlight that the most established application of eDNA for species monitoring involves tracking the great crested newt, an amphibian indigenous to Europe and legally safeguarded in the United Kingdom. Previously, traditional surveys to monitor the newt necessitated four nocturnal expeditions—one during each season—to capture specimens using plastic bottles, followed by a morning return to tally them. However, over the past few years, biodiversity monitoring firms have transitioned to using environmental DNA instead. Surveyors can now collect water samples at any time of day, and the isolated DNA can indicate the presence of newts, thereby saving both time and labor.
"It ultimately boils down to the value proposition: What are the benefits of utilizing eDNA compared to alternative methods?" stated Andrew Weeks, the technical director at EnviroDNA, an Australian eDNA company which Weeks believes was the pioneering entity to operate in the country.
Back in 2008, Gregg Schumer found himself employed at a tightly secured microbiology laboratory in Canada. His daily routine revolved around the extraction of animal tissue and the subsequent testing for viral DNA, targeting pathogens such as Ebola. Concurrently, a childhood friend held the role of principal scientist at a consulting firm tasked with monitoring the Delta smelt, an endangered fish typically measuring less than three inches in length, within California's water systems.
"We started conversing," Schumer recounted, "and recognized that my quest for viruses within organ systems mirrored the challenge of locating a minuscule fish in an expansive ecosystem, and that we could apply the same methodology." Subsequently, they began collecting water samples from the familiar California rivers where they had once enjoyed fishing, conducting analyses to detect smelt DNA. In 2009, this collaboration led to the establishment of one of the pioneering environmental DNA companies: Genidaqs.
Shortly after the term "eDNA" became prevalent in academic circles, Genidaqs secured its initial grant. In 2008, French researchers introduced a "novel approach" aimed at identifying species from aquatic samples by amplifying short DNA sequences and comparing them to a specific frog species. While this paper is acknowledged as the first to advocate for eDNA utilization in species monitoring, Schumer noted that the overarching concept had been in existence for a considerable period prior to its formal recognition.
"The term 'eDNA,' particularly in the context of ecological or pathogen-detection applications, is relatively recent," Schumer commented. "However, the practice of extracting DNA from the environment has been ongoing for as long as people have been aware of the existence of DNA."
Following the publication of the French paper, the commercial eDNA sector began to emerge, with companies such as Genidaqs, pronounced "genetics," and SPYGEN leading the way. SPYGEN, a French company, originated from the laboratory where the original paper was produced and launched in 2011.
Numerous eDNA companies have emerged from academic laboratories or research environments, driven by biologists and geneticists knowledgeable in DNA sequencing who recognized an opportunity to leverage the tool for extracting insights from uncontrolled environments such as rivers. The majority of these companies are relatively new; as Schumer mentioned, it's only been in recent years that there has been sufficient interest for a company to sustain itself solely through eDNA-related ventures.
Nowadays, major international consulting firms like Jacobs and Stantec have also integrated environmental DNA services into their offerings for clients. However, the sequencing process is predominantly conducted in a select number of corporate and academic laboratories. "There's a limited number of commercial labs specializing in environmental DNA work, and even fewer solely dedicated to it," stated Fahner of eDNAtec, which was established in 2015 by a professor at the University of Guelph in Canada.
Despite the increasing demand for eDNA services, regulatory frameworks are most developed in Europe, particularly in England. Liz Allchin, the global principal for biology and ecology at Jacobs, noted that England's adoption of eDNA tools for monitoring great crested newts in 2014 had a significant impact on the industry. As of now, Andrew Weeks and Ryan Kelly stated that England seems to be the sole country with a national regulatory standard for eDNA. This standard outlines provisions for the use of eDNA in monitoring specific species.
In contrast, the legal framework surrounding eDNA methods in other regions is often described as resembling the "wild west," according to Schumer.
There is indeed international interest in eDNA technology. For instance, in Canada, eDNAtec has engaged in collaborations with the government on several projects. Additionally, the country's Science Advisory Secretariat has crafted a guidance document outlining the use of eDNA in decision-making processes. Finland has implemented a national eDNA strategy, while Australia has established a national eDNA reference center. Japan operates a biodiversity monitoring network that utilizes eDNA, and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency employs the tool for monitoring aquatic invasive species.
Starting in 2016, the U.S. government eDNA working group has gathered researchers and officials on at least six occasions to deliberate on the status of eDNA research and its potential integration into governmental initiatives, particularly in areas like invasive species management and pollinator monitoring. Certain U.S. agencies, such as the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have employed eDNA testing. However, there is currently no national strategy in place in the U.S., despite advocacy from academics like Kelly for its development.
Indeed, widespread governmental acceptance of eDNA would represent a significant opportunity for companies engaged in selling these tools. However, in the absence of such acceptance, some companies and researchers remain cautious about forecasting the future size of the market.
Meanwhile, companies such as Best Bees are exploring applications beyond the realm of traditional environmental monitoring. Wilson-Rich has provided consultation on how specific honey producers can authenticate the origin of their products by analyzing the plant DNA they contain, potentially allowing for premium pricing similar to that of Manuka honey, a popular item in health food stores. Advocates for sustainable fisheries have suggested employing eDNA for monitoring illegal fishing activities. Biologists and engineers have deployed autonomous submersibles to scour the ocean floor for eDNA, which may lead to the discovery of new pharmaceuticals. Additionally, in agricultural settings, scientists have conducted experiments utilizing eDNA to assess soil health and identify pests.
eDNA data has the potential to generate value independently. Last year, BeZero Carbon, an agency specializing in rating the quality of carbon credits, initiated trials to utilize eDNA as an indicator for assessing ecosystem health. By monitoring changes in microbial community composition in response to environmental stressors, eDNA serves as a valuable tool for capturing ecosystem characteristics, as stated on the agency's website. This approach could play a crucial role in the advancement of nature-based credits. Biodiversity credits may eventually become available to companies that demonstrate enhancements to the natural landscape. Although the biodiversity credit market is still in its early stages and has faced criticism, international interest in it is growing. BloombergNEF projects that by 2030, the biodiversity offsets and credit market could surpass $160 billion in value.
Nick Atkinson, Chief Science Officer at BeZero Carbon, noted that measuring biodiversity presents greater challenges compared to other voluntary credit systems, such as carbon credits, as biodiversity cannot be defined by a single metric. However, eDNA results offer the advantage of being collected over time, enabling the observation of environmental changes. "We require tools and techniques to accurately measure biodiversity, and eDNA is one such tool," remarked Atkinson. "It proves to be highly beneficial in this regard."
Despite the excitement surrounding eDNA, skepticism persists. Atkinson is keen to emphasize that eDNA is not a "magic bullet." Like any dataset, it is susceptible to bias, as noted by Kelly at the University of Washington: "It could be analyzed responsibly or irresponsibly." Furthermore, bioethicists express concerns that the lack of regulation surrounding eDNA could give rise to significant privacy issues. Without proper restrictions on how companies can utilize or potentially sell the data they collect, serious privacy concerns may arise.