Team:Ionis Paris/Applications and perspectives

The different parameters that must to be taken in account when speaking of atmospheric pollutants (local and regional pollutant emissions, meteorological conditions, transport as well as pollutant transformation) can be modeled. That’s why a 3D model of pollutant concentration can be a valuable tool for air quality monitoring.
A biological system embedded in a drone would enable more precise pollution mapping, and thus a monitoring of pollution in the atmosphere.

The applications of this new monitoring tool are numerous, including defining polluted areas, identifying pollutant emitting industries, monitoring pollutant concentration throughout the year, or localizing a chemical leakage along a pipeline.

A precise and local detection of pollutants will trigger effective action to be taken as well as local environmental damage to be determined. Data obtained using Quantifly can serve as a basis for defining a new framework for future industrial and public regulations concerning pollution.

Measurements carried out with our biosensor could also have an impact on the real estate market, as people don’t want to buy a house in a polluted area.

Potential business model

We have been thinking of several ways of commercializing Quantifly data. We first thought of selling a service instead of a product as we know that genetically modified organisms cannot be handled by non-experts. A data collection service could be established for the government, companies or even individuals in which a technician comes to perform on site measurements. The data is then made accessible to the customer.

Secondly, we considered the idea of changing the bacterial container and replacing the drone for outdoor monitoring by an indoor sensor in the format of a smoke detector. This detector will be placed in public places and be renewed often by specialized employees.

We also imagined creating a network-connected object that will give real time information on the air quality at the street level by a mobile application like the Plume lab app. Plume lab is a company that aims to give information on air pollution to the general public (see the Plume labswebsite for more informations)

Last but not least, the greatest advantages of biosensors is their adjustability. Indeed, a single specific pollutant can be targeted by changing the VOC sensitive bacteria. Our on field measurement system will open up the new possibilities for environmental monitoring. Any environmental pollutant could be detected using the appropriate genetic sequences.

Quantifly is a cheap, sensitive, flexible and versatile tools for pollutant detection.