Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Living Sensors Inc. received a $305,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084), awarded July 1, 2026, with a completion date of June 30, 2027. The company is developing a genetically engineered cover crop capable of detecting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—persistent industrial chemicals commonly referred to as "forever chemicals"—in soil. The technology integrates synthetic biology and remote sensing to create living sensors that produce visible signals detectable through remote sensing methods, enabling large-scale contamination screening without reliance on costly laboratory analysis.

The project focuses on engineering plant hormone receptor circuits that selectively respond to PFAS molecules and activate reporter signals in plant tissue through computational protein engineering. The deliverable is a plant-based environmental sensing system designed to generate high-resolution contamination maps, guide remediation efforts, and reduce monitoring costs for government and industrial site managers overseeing lands potentially affected by PFAS contamination. This approach addresses widespread PFAS contamination affecting millions of acres of U.S. agricultural land while advancing scientific understanding of engineered biological systems functioning as distributed sensors for environmental diagnostics.