Researchers at two Department of Energy national laboratories have partnered with a private company to create an autonomous, field-ready aquatic robot that collects, processes, and analyzes samples of environmental DNA, sharing data in real-time. The invention, called "eDNA-bot," will use artificial intelligence to enable independent decision-making.
The bot could revolutionize biological monitoring by providing more comprehensive results at significantly lower cost than conventional surveying methods. It also has the potential to streamline environmental assessments that are part of the hydropower licensing process, in addition to facilitating other efforts, such as detection of invasive species or monitoring wastewater for pathogens.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently patented the eDNA-bot technology. Now, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at ORNL and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has signed a cooperative research and development agreement with Smith-Root, Inc., a Vancouver, Washington-based producer of biological surveying equipment with an interest in commercializing the sampler.
"It saves us as a company from having to do the R&D internally," said Austen Thomas, a scientist at Smith-Root, Inc. "There's a huge capital expense to designing a system like this. Some of the components of this system are at an R&D level that we can't achieve, so having the engineering and biology staff of the national labs available to develop that technology is a huge benefit. It reduces our risk as a company."
Environmental DNA, or eDNA, is genetic material dispersed into a given habitat by the organisms within it. It is produced by living organisms as they age, excrete waste, and reproduce, and is also generated by dead organisms as they decay.
Taking water samples for eDNA is an alternative to standard biological surveying techniques like netting, trapping, and electrofishing, which are expensive and laborious methods that require catching organisms to survey the species living in and near a waterbody.
Results obtained by these conventional methods offer only partial insight into what species are present, given that they are limited to a single point in time and the presence of the surveyors may scare some species into hiding. The invasive nature of these techniques can also be damaging to the organisms and their habitat.
The eDNA-bot would have a light touch in this regard.
"It would let us sample continuously and unobtrusively for months at a time," said project lead Kristine Moody, a molecular ecologist at ORNL. "The bot also would allow us to access sites that are too remote or too dangerous to easily accommodate human surveyors."
Researchers at ORNL have been working with eDNA technology since 2020, when they kicked off a series of experiments that sought to answer basic questions about the technology and how it could be utilized to conduct biomonitoring in bodies of water connected to hydropower facilities.
These are distinct from natural waterways in that they are subject to extreme variations in water flow, sediment buildup and other factors that make eDNA collection more challenging. ORNL evaluated the collection of eDNA at multiple hydropower reservoirs, including two operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which stewards around 40,000 miles of rivers and streams in the Southeast. The method was able to detect elusive species that had not been observed by conventional means, in addition to species already known to be present.
As the team's work unfolded, it put together a bench-top prototype of eDNA-bot that consisted of both off-the-shelf and in-house manufactured components. Moody said they aim to build a new, compact version of the bot that runs on battery power and weighs less than 100 pounds, so that it can be carried into the field by two people.
"Ideally, we want to get it down to a suitcase size so that it could be flown easily," Moody said. "That will probably be several iterations down the road since we will have to miniaturize everything first."
To do that, Moody is working with her longtime collaborator and co-inventor of eDNA-bot, PNNL fisheries biologist Brenda Pracheil, and tapping a group of ORNL and PNNL researchers with a wide range of skills. The team includes Peter Wang and Brian Post, ORNL staff scientists at the DOE Manufacturing Demonstration Facility who have expertise in robotics, automation, additive manufacturing, and sensors. It also includes Natalie Griffiths, a researcher in ORNL's Environmental Sciences Division who played a key role in the development of AquaBOT , a drone that measures water quality.
During this phase of the R&D process, researchers will also focus on making eDNA-bot rugged enough to withstand highly corrosive saltwater environments, Moody said. The bot will be tested by researchers at PNNL's marine research center in Sequim, Washington.
In addition to hydropower and marine energy facilities, the bot could be useful to academic research institutions and federal and state agencies that study or monitor aquatic life.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE's Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science . - Clare Kennedy
