phenoLytics

A big thank you to Euroseeds for giving us the opportunity to pitch as one of the 12 Finalists at the 1st #InnovActionStage! 👏 It was great connecting with other leading innovators with really impactful technologies to join forces and collaborate for #GrowingTheFuture together! 📈 The #InnovActionStage is also a great new platform to expose and link innovators to the broad range of small & large seed companies who come together at the annual #Euroseeds congress. We are excited to apply again next year for the #InnovActionStage2025 which will focus on the key application areas of our 3D Xray technologies for #processing, #seedquality and #seedtreatment! Our congratulations for this year's well-deserved winner Healthycrop and to all companies for really cool innovations which all will surely play an important role to push the boundaries of crop breeding, for a more sustainable food broduction: Amphasys | SMARTtray® | RoBoTec PTC GmbH | Computomics | Multiplex | Arable | Cibus | Solynta | true potato seeds | Rainbow Crops

To conclude our series of the #phenoTest: The power of combining 3D Xray #groundtruth data of seeds & seedlings. With the phenoTest we can directly link 3D seed quality with 4D seedling quality on a 1:1 seed-to-seedling level. With good models, we can then predict what "effective" seed quality will give us vigorous, usable plants based only on quick bulk seed samples. 🎯 Here's a peak into why these predictive seed-to-seedling models are truly transformational across the entire seed value chain: 1) Predict usable/sellable #seeds directly after harvest and prioritize shipping, processing and marketing campaigns 📊 2) Determine best #harvesting timepoints pre-harvest and plan #multiplication areas for the next season directly post-harvest 🌱 3) Define data-driven cut-offs/trade-offs between usable and waste seeds and save also the border cases from the waste fractions 🎯 4) Monitor every #processing step quasi in-line to minimize processing steps and maximize the output of sellable seeds ✅ 5) Decrease #leadtimes in (decentralized) seed production by using quick bulk sample seed phenotyping rather than long germination testing ⏱️ ... and ensure high and homogenous #seedquality, stably under different environmental conditions which directly translates to yield for happy customers and a more sustainable plant production! 🌱 Excited for the next leaps with our partners, Fraunhofer IIS EZRT & PhenoKey to further pioneer the applications of 3D Xray CT for all crops and end-to-end applications for a more sustainable food production! 📈 You can expect updates on the #phenoTest2.0, new research infrastructure, algorithm development, exciting new automation concepts and many new end-to-end validations and impactful research projects/collaborations here very soon! 💡

We are excited and grateful for being selected amongst the 12 finalists to pitch within the new #InnovAction stage format at the #Euroseeds2024 conference to a broad range of international industry leaders🎉 This is a great opportunity for us to present our end-to-end 3D Xray #phenotyping technologies for the whole life cycle from seed to plant. We will demonstrate applications across the entire value chain ranging from breeding, seed treatment and seed processing to sales & marketing. It is also a great platform to connect with other leading innovators to work together for a more sustainable, resilient and productive food production in the face of the multitude of current global challenges. Our Co-Founder Dr. Johannes Wolff is looking forward to meet and network with you in Copenhagen. #GrowingTheFuture #Euroseeds2024 #InnovAction #SeedInnovation

Next up in our series: our patented #phenoTest system using 3D Xray CT for fully automated, high-throughput 3D #phenotyping over time (4D) of seeds and resulting germinating seedlings 🌱 How does it work? As 3D Xray allows to analyze closed containers, seedlings can be measured at multiple timepoints from seed to seedling across the germination process, allowing to quantify growth dynamics such as #germinationspeed, developmental abnormalities or #vigor (biomass production over time). The output are measurement values of volumes, dimensions, growth directions etc for all organs for each seed (internal & external) and seedling over time at thousands of such datasets per hour. As of now, we have successfully validated the phenoTest for >80 plant species, from fine grasses to trees. The video briefly leads through the phenoTest process. Why is this phenotypic big data transformational? No other technology available allows to capture 3D phenotypic data of whole seedlings, including roots in medium, across the germination process at high throughput and full automation. This data is the necessary ground truth to optimize all processes in seed & plant production- because we can only optimize, what we can measure: 1.  #QualityTesting: Standardized, globally reproducible and quantitative big data on seedling quality for international germination testing, as well as internal usable plant tests, including a minimized risk of disruptions of these business-critical processes due to labor shortages or pandemics. 2.  #Processing: Guiding of processing operations to achieve desired seed quality 3.  #QualityDocumentation & decisions: Protection against complaints as seed quality is documented and data-driven point-of-sale decisions. 4.  #Screening for treatments: Quantification of protective, phytotoxic or enhancing effects of seed treatments, seed enhancement or pelleting and early screening for new agrochemicals. 5.  #Breeding & genomic marker discovery: Screening for early traits of yield and for tolerance to stress conditions (heat, draught, salt etc) on a single seedling level. Discovery of new genomic markers underlying stress tolerance by sequencing high or low performing seedlings. … and anything where the seed and seedling quality needs to be quantified. A next generation phenoTest 2.0 is now under construction together with Fraunhofer IIS EZRT & PhenoKey based on the industrially-validated phenoTest developed at Strube D&S GmbH. In our next post, we will combine both 3D seed & 4D seedling phenotyping and tell you how this data can digitalize and optimize all processes along the seed production value chain- stay tuned! For any questions, feel free to connect & reach out to our Founders directly: Dr. Antje Wolff Dr. Johannes Wolff

Next up in our new series, we want to present the use of our technologies for high-throughput 3D phenotyping of seeds. 3D Xray CT allows to non-destructively capture and measure the external & internal phenotypes of seeds, including all seed organs. Depending on the application, seeds can be phenotyped in two set-ups: 1) In seed bulks: 3D Xraying containers with seed bulks and reconstructing, isolating & measuring each seed in 3D in quasi-real time, at a throughput of hundreds of seeds/min. With a resolution of 50 μm, even small grass seeds can be reconstructed, isolated and measured in 3D. 2)  In filter paper: With the phenoTest 2.0 (developed together with PhenoKey & Fraunhofer IIS EZRT), it will be possible to phenotype the seeds in dry filter paper, before germinating them to seedlings after watering. For both analysis streams, seeds will be: 1. automatically isolated from other seeds or the paper by an AI algorithm; 2.  all internal seed organs will be automatically segmented, 3.  all external & internal features will be measured in 3D such as seed & embryo volume, filling degree etc … everything that can be visually segmented, can be automatically measured! This allows to automatically quantify the seed quality of each individual seed, including filling degree, underdevelopments, damages & defects. The data output is measurement values for each seed (or averages for a seed lot) at thousands of such datasets per hour which can be 1:1 linked to the phenotype of the seedling growing from each seed, allowing to: - optimize #seed quality & avoid damages/defects in production - explain #seedling quality issues such as low germination & vigor - control for seed quality as a variable in experiments & tests -  set thresholds to guide and monitor seed #processing - customize the optimal seed quality for a target market or application - optimize the yield potential & stress tolerance of your seeds Stay tuned for our next posts in our series, where we will continue along the phenoTest process with the 3D phenotyping of the seedlings germinating from the seeds analyzed in filter paper. #3DXray #Phenotyping #SeedQuality

Let us introduce ourselves! 👋 In a series of posts over the next weeks, we want to give you an overview of our end-to-end technology portfolio and why we believe in its potential to truly transform, digitalize and optimize all processes across the seed and plant production value chain.     Why morphological phenotyping?  🌱 Globally reproducible and quantitative morphological phenotypic big data along the entire development from seed to seedling to plant in the field is the prerequisite ground truth data to research and optimize seeds and plants: because we can only optimize, what we can reliably measure! This ground truth of a seed or plant phenotype is also necessary to effectively leverage and calibrate other indirect phenotypic information such as color, NIR, chlorophyl as well as (epi-)genomic data on phenotype-genotype links. However, current morphological phenotyping technologies still come with many limitations and constraints in terms of labor, throughput, standardization and data quality.     Why 3D Xray CT?   3D Xray CT is the only physical method known to:  a) resolve internal/hidden structures (e.g., seed organs or roots in medium),  b) produce high-resolution 3D morphological phenotypic data,   c) at a high throughput and with full automation,  d) non-destructively follow the development process from a seed to the plant in 3D over time (i.e., in 4D).     Over the next weeks, we will present our technologies, starting with the phenoTest, and their broad applications from the seed industry, to seed processors and multiplicators, to the agrochemical industry as well as to researchers and Genebanks- stay tuned! 📆 A big shoutout to our close partners:  Strube D&S GmbH where all of our technologies have been developed and are in  daily industrial use for many years.  Fraunhofer IIS (EZRT) who have developed the hardware and algorithms over the last >25 years and continue to be our close R&D partner PhenoKey who are our exclusive marketing, manufacturing and implementation partners for fully automated and customized turn-key systems 

Congratulations to the team of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew around Louise Colville, the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP Greifswald) e.V. and Elsoms Seeds Ltd for winning a competitive large grant under the UK Tree Production Innovation Fund (TPIF). TPIF is a governmental fund to promote research for a more sustainable forestry production and reforestation efforts in the UK to battle biodiversity loss and climate change. The 1.5-year project will study the application of plasma treatment of tree seeds to break dormancy - one of the key barriers for an efficient forestry seed production - and enhance the germination and vigor of the seeds.   phenoLytics is proud to be an integral part of this reputed consortium and research ambition. We will offer our 3D Xray-based technologies to 3D phenotype non-treated and treated seeds and to follow and quantify the germination process of these samples in 4D over the time course with our phenoTest. With these quantitative and objective measurements, we want to detect and prove any beneficial (or detrimental) effects of different plasma treatments on dormancy breaking, germination capacity, seedling development, vigor and growth, while controlling for seed quality parameters. An additional ambition is to leverage these large trials to identify critical seed quality parameters of tree seeds which may allow a better selection, sorting and processing of forestry seeds.   We are excited to work together within a consortium of top scientists and organizations over the next years on solutions for a more sustainable, efficient and resource-effective production of tree seeds and plants. For us, exploring the use and quantifying the effects of plasma treatment on seeds with such prestigious partners is a great appreciation and validation of our technology. We see the phenoTest as a fundamental enabling tool for ground truth phenotypic big data which is needed to measure and optimize processes along the entire seed value chain- because we can only optimize, what we can reliably measure.   We are currently already applying our technologies across a wide range of applications from breeding, to screening for stress tolerance and seed treatments, seed processing, seed storage and ageing and strategic sales decisions, and many more. Stay tuned for further updates on our ongoing and planned collaborations and projects here!    

We are very honored to have been selected as the winner out of 65 international start-ups and 12 finalists at the Seed Innovation Challenge of the RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG and the Agro Innovation Lab. In addition to the generous cash prize, this is an important confirmation and validation from an industry expert jury for the potential and the near-term application of our disruptive 3D technologies to revolutionize the seed value chain. We are looking forward to future collaborations with industry pioneers like the RWA and the many highly innovative start-ups and firms that we were fortunate to meet there, to jointly advance innovative solutions for the many challenges of rapidly achieving more sustainable agricultural and food production We see our technologies as fundamental enabling tools to optimize all processes and thus to tie in with many other innovative technologies and approaches. Our technologies span the whole seed value chain from patented lab-based 4D phenotyping for dry seeds and fruits, germinating seeds & seedlings to 3D phenotyping plants in the field to a high-throughput 3D sorting machine based on laser light triangulation to leverage this data. With this interconnected technology portfolio, we provide currently the only means to produce the necessary ground-truth big data of seed and seedling 3D morphological phenotypes. This ground truth data is the prerequisite to optimize all processes along the entire seed value chain from seed quality analysis and optimization, germination and vigor testing, processing, documentation and sale decisions to breeding- because we can only optimize what we can measure. The technologies have been invented by our Founder, Dr. Antje Wolff, at the breeding company Strube D&S GmbH, in cooperation with the Fraunhofer IZFP, for sugar beet where they are in daily internal industrial use for many years to solve real-life challenges in seed production and research. PhenoLytics' mission is now to translate these technologies with our partner Fraunhofer IIS to all other crops, from fine grasses to forestry seeds. Our ambition is to provide end-to-end solutions and integrated data to optimize all processes along the seed value chain and to integrate them seamlessly as fully automated turnkey systems into existing lab infrastructure with our expert X-ray and automation partner PhenoKey B.V. To all the highly innovative start-ups, we were lucky to meet in Austria, Amphasys, Arable, ClimateAi, Cropin, Cropt, Green and Seed Corporation, Hiphen, Hudson River Biotechnology, Proofminder, Zayndu Ltd: we wish you all a lot of success with your great innovations to transform the industry, many new ideas for future solutions and exciting joint projects in the spirit of "growing together"! Many thanks also for the kind press coverage: ·       Seed World Europe: https://hubs.li/Q029M8cB0 ·      WIRTSCHAFTSZEIT ·      top agrar Stay tuned for updates on our many projects and collaborations here!

We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the outstanding organization of the Seed Innovation Challenge, the extremely generous prize and especially the associated appreciation/validation for our technologies by an expert jury! We look forward to future collaborations to jointly advance solutions for the challenges of more sustainable seed and food production. Many thanks to the RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG and Agro Innovation Lab team for a truly outstanding format that attracted leading industry experts, an international audience, 65 start-ups and 12 finalists from at least 3 continents, combined with high caliber speakers & moderation and a fantastic evening program! This is a great approach to break down silo and niche thinking and working together on overarching solutions for the many challenges facing the seed industry. For us, many very interesting collaboration ideas emerged from the conference - all in the spirit of "growing together". Based on the ideas of our founder, Dr. Antje Wolff, our patented technologies have been developed with the great team of the Department of Seed Quality Research at Strube D&S GmbH in cooperation with the Fraunhofer IZFP and Fraunhofer IIS, for sugar beet. Our solutions have been validated and are in daily internal industrial use at Strube D&S GmbH for many years. phenoLytics mission is now to translate these revolutionary technologies to all other crops and to provide end-to-end solutions and integrated data to optimize all processes along the seed value chain. To integrate them seamlessly as fully-automated turnkey solutions into existing lab infrastructure and processes, we can rely on our expert implementation and automation partner PhenoKey . We are excited for the road ahead to drive progress in the seed industry together with our partners.