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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 26, 2023 5 STARTUPS, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION We Serve Retirement Plans Nonprofit Organizations Financial Institutions Private Clients Whatever our role, the goal remains the same: to deliver timely, effective investment consulting services essential to achieving a superior result. Helping Clients Prosper 860-683-1187 FiducientAdvisors.com Enko grows weeds at its Mystic greenhouse to test its various pesticide candidates. HBJ PHOTO | HARRIET JONES kill fall armyworm, one of the big, damaging pests. But we don't want it to touch butterflies. Don't want it to touch bees. We want it to be safe to humans. You can set up your experi- ment to do that." When the chemical characteristics that will fulfill those requirements are identified, artificial intelligence tools can comb through encoded DNA libraries containing billions of likely candidate compounds to find the one that fits the bill. That's the portion of the process that's being massively sped up by new technology. It's an approach that was first pioneered in drug discovery for human health care. "That's probably the biggest innovation that's not being done in crop protection at all anywhere else," said Heard. Once a likely candidate is identified though, things go from the virtual world right back into the real world, to the lab bench, and from there to the grow chamber, greenhouse and finally the field. The Mystic greenhouses are now equipped with computer-controlled flood tables that water plants from below on a precise schedule. Lighting is also computer controlled. Stchur said doing their own testing at the Mystic facility means they can control experiments much more precisely, abandoning things that aren't working more quickly, and pivoting to new experiments when those are indicated. The move required them to hire a horticulturist. "(The horticulturist) had spent her career growing ornamentals, and it was kinda like, 'well, how would you like to grow weeds?'" said Stchur. Field-testing The company's most advanced compound, a herbicide they haven't publicly identified, has gone even beyond the greenhouse into real- world testing in an agricultural setting. It is intended as an alternative to current herbicides on major crops like corn, soy, cotton and wheat. "There's a whole consortium of growers that will grow to support the crop protection industry," said Stchur. "We've been out to the field for three years." They have run more than 300 trials in five continents, and will be continuing testing in Europe this fall. If you think of it once again as a pharmaceutical pipeline, these are the equivalent of human clinical trials, and they will lead to a dossier that will be prepared for regulatory approval, the final step before the product hits the market. Although, Heard warns, there could still be four years or so ahead of them in terms of meeting regulatory targets. "We really do feel this first product is something that demonstrates the value proposition of what we really intended to do," she said. "We can use the molecule at a very low use rate. It stays where it's applied, so it doesn't appear to have any likelihood of leaching into the environment or water supplies." That's the evolution that she hopes will help Enko address the huge challenges of climate change and population growth. "Technology has always come and saved people from starvation. And with AI, I really believe it's a huge accelerant. Innovation is going to be happening faster than it's ever happened before." chelseagroton.com/growthatbusiness or call 860-448-4295 NMLS #402928 *Subject to credit approval. It's more than just a place of business… It's where you'll grow your future. We'll help you meet the right people, get a loan, * and share all you need to know along the way.