SafeTraces, Inc. is a market-leading biotechnology company focused on pathogen-proofing indoor environments. SafeTraces' integrated platform predicts, detects, and helps prevent infectious, contamination, and bioterror incidents. In late June, company officials announced the release of PathogenSentinel. This is the first hands-free quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based biosensor and software platform for rapid detection and mitigation of airborne pathogens. 

This groundbreaking technology platform represents an inflection point in airborne pathogen detection, marking the transition from time-lagged, manual legacy approaches to a rapid, automated sensor platform with lab-quality results and high scalability, according to officials. PathogenSentinel will be initially deployed for enhanced biocontainment of avian influenza (H5N1), tuberculosis, and other airborne pathogens in support of Biosafety Level 3 and 4 laboratories, with limited early availability prior to wider release later in 2025.
 
Called the "last great biological frontier," the air we breathe is one of the most important but poorly understood determinants of human health, officials note. The typical healthy adult breathes in and out about 25,000 times per day, inhaling approximately 2,000 gallons of air that contains thousands of invisible living microbes. In recent years, the unprecedented prevalence of existing and novel airborne pathogens has led to rising rates of disease transmission, health complications, and death, and trillions of dollars of annual economic harm. Longstanding technological limitations have prevented rapid, automated, and reliable early detection of naturally occurring, accidental, or weaponized airborne biological threats.
 
In response, SafeTraces has developed and commercialized PathogenSentinel, integrating scientific gold standard qPCR technology with world-class hardware and software engineering, to create the first hands-free biosensor and software platform. PathogenSentinel builds on National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Department of Defense support, extensive peer-reviewed scientific research, and widespread commercial application of SafeTraces' market-leading veriDART platform and DNA tracer technology for the measurement and verification of engineering controls for preventing airborne pathogen exposures.
 
PathogenSentinel's key system components are made up of hardware, consumables, and software. The desktop-printer-sized instrument has a 100-liter-per-minute air sampling rate and an internal, hands-free qPCR biosensor. Its replaceable cartridges automatically detect up to four customer-specified pathogen targets. Its web-based application provides actionable, threshold-based alerts and trending with Application Programming Interfaces (API) integration to building systems.
 
PathogenSentinel provides several critical differentiators relative to microbial plating, particle counters, and other existing methods for airborne pathogen detection. They include measurement sensitivity down to one copy per air sample, seven log dynamic range, and customizable multiplex; hands-free automation, with all-in-one air sampling, qPCR analysis, and API-supported data analysis; and rapid results, with near real-time onsite analytics for targeted prevention of infections, contamination, and bioterror incidents.
 
"Indoor air quality is incredibly important to people's health," says Erik Malmstrom, CEO of SafeTraces. "Airborne pathogen control is one of the world's largest public health and international security vulnerabilities. SafeTraces is thrilled to commercially release PathogenSentinel, a truly disruptive technology platform delivering a foundational capability for early detection widely acknowledged as the critical missing piece of our biosecurity and biodefense puzzle."
 
For more information about SafeTraces, please visit www.safetraces.com, www.youtube.com/channel/UCUA47Rg2cvArzcLmnNVM3kQ?, or www.linkedin.com/company/safetraces.