A New Mexico company plans to test a technology that could help eliminate the use of harmful pesticides in farming by "working with nature — not against it."
That's the way Rebecca White, CEO of Pebble Labs Inc., described her company's Directed Biotics technology. The technology uses molecular biology to create specific RNA molecules in crops and livestock that protect them from pests and disease. Based in Los Alamos, Pebble Labs will complete its first field trial this spring.
The technology has been in the research and development phase for more than two years, White said. The previous iteration of Pebble Labs, called Little Fly Labs, used the technology for a different purpose: targeting disease-carrying mosquitos. Pebble Labs pivoted to using its biotech for crop and livestock protection in early 2020 when White came to the company as its chief technology officer.
If all goes well with the trials, White said Pebble Labs' expansion — in terms of personnel and physical space — could happen quickly. Currently, Pebble Labs has 28 staff (with several active jobs openings) spread across its main facility in Los Alamos and a satellite facility at Florida Atlantic University.
Pebble Labs' product expansion could happen just as fast.
In five years, White wants to see more than one million acres of cropland using Directed Biotics. In 10 years, she hopes Pebble Labs is a "staple" 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."
White grew up on a farm in Texas and studied microbiology and agriculture in graduate school at Texas A&M University
"Staples of the American diet are under threat," White said. "We want to be a part of taking that threat away."
Citrus greening, a pathogen-based disease that attacks oranges and other citrus plants, is one example. Other crops like bananas and coffee are also susceptible to disease, she said.
For its work in this sector, Pebble Labs was recently named to the 2022 Unreasonable Impact Americas program, alongside 11 other companies. Unreasonable, which runs the program, is based in Colorado and aims to "re-purpose capitalism," according to its website. It does this through mentorship and financing opportunities for growth-stage companies.
"We were blown away by Pebble Labs' technology, which is solving significant challenges for global food production," said Daniel Epstein, Unreasonable's founder and CEO said.
Pebble Labs was also recently named a winner in the United Nation's Science, Technology and Innovation Forum for its Sustainable Development Goals. That recognition has pushed White to think on an even larger scale.
"We would love to be in all the major agricultural markets globally," White said.
But, Pebble Labs' immediate focus is on promoting the agricultural economy in New Mexico.
"Anything we can do to help build up the local agricultural economy is important to us," she said.
