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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Conserv. Sci.

Sec. Conservation Genetics and Genomics

Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2025.1521050

Decentralizing genetic testing for biodiversity monitoring and biosurveillance with the Nucleic Acid Barcode Identification Tool (NABIT)

Provisionally accepted
Hal  HolmesHal Holmes*Misa  WintersMisa WintersCifeng  FangCifeng FangGareth  FotouhiGareth FotouhiMaria  Fernanda BaronMaria Fernanda BaronDavid  L DayDavid L DayJacqueline  MercaderJacqueline MercaderDavid  Anthony FoxDavid Anthony FoxPaul  M.E. BunjePaul M.E. BunjeAlex  DehganAlex Dehgan
  • Conservation X Labs, Washington, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The escalating threats to biodiversity, public health, and food security posed by emerging infectious diseases, wildlife trafficking, and invasive species expansions require novel approaches to biosurveillance. Modern genetic testing technology can detect many of these unseen threats, but existing genetic testing approaches are largely inaccessible to most people working in the field. The Nucleic Acid Barcode Identification Tool (NABIT) is a handheld, battery-powered device that enables rapid nucleic acid amplification tests to be performed at the point-of-contact by non-technical users, creating a critical bridge between centralized laboratories and the field by reducing barriers to accessible and routine genetic testing. In this work, we present initial performance data for the NABIT and lyophilized assays for nucleic acid amplification testing of two diverse applications to demonstrate the potential of the NABIT to serve as a platform for on-site biosurveillance and species detection. The results demonstrated that the NABIT COVID-19 test kit could detect SARS-CoV-2 at 0.93 NDU/µL. The NABIT sockeye test kit showed amplification between 13-22 minutes from filtered water samples from a salmon hatchery.

Keywords: Nucleic acid amplification test, Biosurveillance, Species detection, on-site genetic testing, eDNA

Received: 28 Jan 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Holmes, Winters, Fang, Fotouhi, Baron, Day, Mercader, Fox, Bunje and Dehgan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Hal Holmes, Conservation X Labs, Washington, United States

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.