Pebble Labs Testing New Technology To Protect Crops and Livestock

Pebble Labs Testing New Technology To Protect Crops and Livestock

Pebble Labs Inc., a Los Alamos based company,  is planning on testing their Directed Biotics technology this spring which could assist in eliminating the use of pesticides in farming. This technology uses molecular biology to create specific RNA molecules in crops and livestock that protect them from pests and disease.

CEO Rebecca White says this technology has been in the the research and development phase for more than two years, and was originally used to target disease-carrying mosquitos.

If all goes well as expected with these trials, Pebble Labs will be expanding both in terms of hiring more personnel and also with physical space. White’s plan is that more than one million acres of cropland will be using Directed Biotics in the next five years. Pebble Labs aims to become a crucial step in pest management for farms across the U.S.

“There’s all kinds of things that you can do with science and technology,” White said. “But if you’re not solving a problem that people actually have, it’s never going to be adopted.”

Pests and pathogen-based diseases threaten our staple crops and livestock. For example, citrus greening disease is spread by a disease-infected insect, and is currently putting the future of America’s citrus at risk. This is a real problem affecting citrus trees in the U.S.

Pebble Labs’ immediate focus is on promoting the agricultural economy in New Mexico, but hopes their technology will be a solution for crops worldwide.

See the entire New Mexico Inno Reporter article by Jacob Maranda: This is how Pebble Labs plans to tackle food security in New Mexico.

Pebble Labs Inc. is a start-up company that when first starting up, was supported by the New Mexico Consortium.