The European Commission has awarded a Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) grant of €3M to a consortium of 5 companies to develop a photonic biosensing platform for aquaculture applications. The project PHOTO-SENS brings together partners from across the value chain: production of photonic biochips (Surfix, NL), photonics assembly and packaging (PHIX, NL), microfluidics integration (CSEM, CH), equipment manufacturing (LRE Medical, D), and diagnostic services in aquaculture (Tunatech, D).
The consortium will work on the industrialization of the platform and reducing manufacturing costs, building on a previously developed prototype. PHOTO-SENS will focus on DNA-based diagnostic applications in aquaculture such as detection of salmon pathogens and early sex discrimination of sturgeon, thereby contributing to a sustainable food supply chain and global food security for future generations.