FREDsense is a synthetic biology company developing novel tools for real-time water quality analysis. Their lead product – the Field Ready Electrochemical Detector (FRED) – consists of a genetically engineered bacterium tuned to sense heavy metals and other contaminants for the mining sector. Real-time water chemistry analysis is vital to managing utility and mine processes, but traditional laboratory analysis can take days, delaying decisions being made on-site and increasing costs.
The FredSense system is portable, autonomous, and connected, providing users with continuous water quality measurements. FredSense was awarded first prize in Ontario Genomics’ inaugural Canada SynBio Pitch Competition to expand capabilities to additional heavy metals like lead. The tunability and specificity of the sensor technology has significant potential to help Ontario companies in the mining sector reduce costs to meet their regulatory requirements.
