COVID RATES ARE DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTRY. FLU IS STILL HIGH, BUT STABILIZING AND RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS ARE DROPPING. HOW DO WE KNOW ALL THIS TRACKING AND TESTING. WASTEWATER TESTING IS PLAYING AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT ROLE. IT CAME TO PROMINENCE DURING THE PANDEMIC AS A WAY TO MONITOR COVID SPREAD. WHILE INDIVIDUAL TESTS WERE STILL HARD TO COME BY AND MIT STARTUP IN MASSACHUSETTS CALLED BIO BOT WAS A KEY PART OF THAT ANALYZE SAMPLES FROM ALL 50 STATES. WELL, NOW BIOBOT IS FINDING NEW WAYS TO HELP COMMUNITIES. OUR PRODUCER, TARA CLEARY, SPOKE TO THEIR HEAD OF CHEMISTRY, CAITLIN HESS JIMENEZ, TO FIND OUT WHAT OTHER VALUABLE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND IN WASTEWATER. IN 2017, BIOBOT FIRST STARTED LOOKING AT WASTEWATER SAMPLES IN CARY, NORTH CAROLINA, LOOKING FOR OPIOIDS. THE TOWN BELIEVED THAT THEY HAD A HEROIN PROBLEM. ACTUALLY, AS THEY LOOKED FOR MORE TARGETS, IT WAS UNCOVERED THAT THEY HAD A PRESCRIPTION OPIOID PROBLEM. THERE’S A LOT OF FENTANYL, THE KIND OF INTERVENTIONS THAT THE TOWN CAN USE ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT FOR A HEROIN PROBLEM VERSUS A PRESCRIPTION OPIOID PROBLEM. SO IT WAS A REALLY POWERFUL TOOL. INCREASED TESTING IS KEY AS COMMUNITIES MOVE TOWARD THE NEW NORMAL. WHEN THE WORLD WAS KIND OF UPENDED BY THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC, BIOBOT PIVOTED FROM LOOKING FOR OPIOIDS AND WASTEWATER TO LOOKING FOR COVID 19 AND WASTEWATER. IS THIS THE FIRST RUN, OR IS THE REPEAT INJECTION BEING ABLE TO USE WASTEWATER TESTING, CERTAINLY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC, WAS A HUGE ADVANTAGE BECAUSE THERE WAS SO LITTLE DATA AT THAT TIME. I MEAN, IF YOU REMEMBER HAVING TO WAIT IN LINE FOR A CAR TO GET A TEST AND THEN WAITING DAYS FOR THESE RESULTS TO COME BACK, WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE A READOUT OF THE LEVELS AND THE CONCENTRATION AND THE SPREAD OF VIRUS, NOT JUST HERE, BUT ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IN DAYS. SO IT WAS IT WAS A GAME CHANGER. BIOBOT CURRENTLY TESTS ACROSS ALL 50 STATES. WE RECEIVE ON ANY GIVEN DAY A FEW HUNDRED SAMPLES. WE FIRST HAVE A KIT THAT IS ASSEMBLED AND SHIPPED TO OUR MANY DIFFERENT PARTNERS. WHEN ON SOMEONE AT ONE OF THESE TREATMENT FACILITIES OR MANHOLE COLLECTS THE SAMPLE, THEY WILL SHIP THE SAMPLE BACK TO BIOBOT. WHEN WE RECEIVE THE SAMPLES AT BIOBOT, THEY’RE KIND OF IDENTIFIED FOR WHICH TESTING MECHANISM THEY’LL GO THROUGH. WE GIVE OUR DATA BACK TO PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENTS AND THEN THEY ARE ABLE TO INGEST THIS INTO OTHER AVENUES TO GIVE BACK TO THEIR COMMUNITIES. ALSO, ON OUR WEBSITE, WE PROVIDE NATIONAL AVERAGES AND SOME COUNTY LEVEL AVERAGES FOR COVID 19, FLU AND RSV. SO PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME CAN GO AND CHECK ON THE WEBSITE AND SAY, AH, YOU KNOW, I HAVE A FAMILY GATHERING COMING UP. WHAT DOES COVID LOOK LIKE ACROSS THE US RIGHT NOW? WASTEWATER TESTING FOR BOTH CHEMICALS AND PATHOGENS IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. IT’S ANONYMOUS. WE’RE LOOKING AT HUNDREDS TO THOUSANDS TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FROM A SINGLE SAMPLE. AND WE’RE NEVER IDENTIFYING GENETIC INFORMATION. IN THE MOST EXCITING PART ABOUT WASTEWATER TESTING IS WE STILL HAVE SO MUCH FURTHER TO GO. WE’VE EXPANDED FROM COVID NOW INTO RSV AND INFLUENZA. THERE’S NOROVIRUS TESTING, THERE’S TESTING FOR A HIGH RISK SUBSTANCES, BUT THAT’S NOT THE END. THERE ARE STILL SO MANY OTHER BIOMARKERS WE CAN LOOK FOR. AND THE CHEMISTRY REALM, THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER PATHOGENS WE CAN LOOK FOR IN WAYS THAT MAKE PEOPLE SICK, BUT ALSO THERE ARE OTHER MARKERS THAT ARE INDICATIVE OF GOOD HEALTH, TOO, THAT WE HAVEN’T BEGUN EVEN DIGGING INTO A LITTLE BIT YET. SO I AM SO OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ALL OF THE DIRECTIONS THAT THE FIELD CAN GO AND HOW MUCH FURTHER WE HA