Naturally-produced microscopic tags encode supply chain information using GS1 Standards

Brooklyn, NY (October 21, 2020) — Aanika Biosciences announced the results of groundbreaking research validating the use of the company’s naturally-produced biomolecular tags in supporting improved traceability throughout the leafy greens supply chain. Aanika’s Lettuce Defender tags are virtually indestructible microscopic containers that leverage GS1 Standards, the most widely-used supply chain standards in the world.

AANIKA BIOSCIENCES HAS PARTNERED WITH PROTERA BIO TO BRING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO THE TRACEABILITY GAME

Aanika Biosciences has partnered with fellow SOSV portfolio company Protera Bio, to help unlock the secondary functionality of Aanika’s proprietary microbial tags. Aanika uses microbial spores to tag products along the supply chain and detect adulteration and contamination — reducing risk and narrowing the scope of product recalls.

By using Aanika’s “living devices”, non germinating microbial spores that carry unique genetic signatures, customers can reduce the time and cost to determine origin, contamination and adulteration by an order of magnitude.

Protera’s cutting edge MADI™ platform leverages machine learning / artificial intelligence to generate functional proteins which Aanika will be using to help address the real-world challenges of its customers. The partnership with Protera is part of Aanika’s larger strategy to use computational biology to harness the power of the microbial spore and bring biology to places it’s never been before. …

At Aanika, we believe having a strong advisory board is just as important as building a top-notch core team. Our advisors have gone above and beyond for us and we are grateful for the time, technical insights and resources they have provided.

Dr. Titus’ expertise in biotechnology, data science and artificial intelligence, as well as his experience at the Department of Defense (DoD) make him an invaluable resource for Aanika. We are truly honored to have him on board and are looking forward to working with him.

Alexander Titus is the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) where he is part of the leadership team working to advance the U.S. regenerative manufacturing industry, as well as develop technologies for disaster preparedness. Alexander’s career is focused on the intersection of technology and public benefit, with experience spanning the private and public sectors, as well as non-profits and academia. …

Biotechnology startup Aanika Biosciences and De Beers Group, the world’s leading diamond company, are working together to explore the possibility of using Aanika’s ‘Living Device’ platform to support enhanced traceability for diamonds. Aanika and De Beers Group will investigate whether the technology has the potential to complement initiatives De Beers Group is already leading, such as the Tracr platform.

Aanika’s ‘Living Device’ platform works by turning dormant microbes into microscopic tags. De Beers Group, which supplies around one-third of the world’s rough diamonds by value, will examine the potential of biotechnology through microbial tagging in the diamond sector.

“Chemical, optical and digital technologies have been the ‘go to’ for large manufacturers, but I believe we are now entering the era of biotechnology-enabled solutions”, according to Aanika CEO Vishaal Bhuyan. …

Aanika Biosciences, inc. welcomes Dr. Sylvia Daunert and Dr. Sapna Deo to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The University of Miami professors will provide Aanika with invaluable guidance on the development of the company’s “Living Device” platform. Aanika designs and builds microorganisms, which can be used to increase traceability and mitigate various risks within complex supply chains — specifically in food, agriculture and natural resources. Other SAB members include: Dr. George Church (Wyss Institute at Harvard), Andrew Hessel (Chairman of the Human Genome Project-Write) and Dr. Chris Mason (Weill Cornell).

At Aanika Biosciences, our mission is to increase transparency within global supply chains. While we primarily use the power of biology to tackle this challenge, we also believe it is our responsibility to bring transparency to the public; transparency means educating the public on exactly what we (and others in the field do) and why we do it.

90s era biotechnology operated under a veil of mystery, leading to a backlash and bevy of misinformation. …

In order to better reflect our mission to protect global supply chains, we have decided to change our name to Aanika Biosciences. “Aanika” is derived from the Hindu goddess Durga, who protects the world from Evil. So while we will do our best on that front, we can help bring increased transparency and traceability to the world.

At Aanika, we create nearly indestructible, yet safe microbial tags that can be applied to a variety of products at various points in the supply chain. These tags are orders of magnitude more robust than other dna-based tags and can be used to generate more granular and richer data related to a customer’s products and processes. Large producers in the food and agricultural space are just some of the players who can use our system to limit recalls, ensure product integrity, verify origin and authenticate materials. …

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Dr. Eduardo Morales has joined Carverr as Head of Research & Development. Dr. Morales was previously VP of R&D at uBiome, a biotechnology company that used machine learning and artificial intelligence to read and analyze the human microbiome. Eduardo’s technical experience in extracting key insights from microbial communities adds tremendous value to Carverr’s product offerings. Moreover, Dr. Morales’ management experience, having built and led large inter-disciplinary teams for uBiome, make him a natural fit as Head of R&D.

Carverr builds traceable probiotics and custom microbiomes for large customers, primarily in the food and agriculture industry.