Soil metage omic evide ce eplaced state-by-state soil sampli g, comp essi g a validatio step that has histo ically take yea s
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ea thOptics a ou ced today that Loam Bio has eceived egulato y clea a ce f om USDA APHIS to expa d use of its biological ac oss additio al states, suppo ted by ge omic evide ce p oduced th ough Ea thOptics T uO igi ™ I dige eity Ve ificatio Se vice.
Fo soil mic oo ga isms egulated by USDA APHIS, pe mitti g fo use i a give state ge e ally depe ds o evide ce that the o ga ism al eady occu s atu ally the e. Compa ies have t aditio ally p oduced that evide ce the ha d way: collecti g soil, isolati g the o ga ism, a d seque ci g it, locatio by locatio . The wo k is expe sive, slow, a d logistically complex, a d compa ies must epeat it i each state whe e they pla to deploy the p oduct.
Ea thOptics took a diffe e t oute. Usi g ge ome assemblies Loam Bio supplied fo two fu gal st ai s, Ea thOptics’ scie ce team compa ed those ge omes agai st its metage omic database, the wo ld’s la gest soil metage omic database, collected ac oss mo e tha 10,000 U.S. field sites. The esulti g epo ts docume ted whe e each o ga ism atu ally occu s at state-level esolutio , with eve y th eshold a d method stated a d ep oducible. Loam Bio submitted that evide ce as pa t of its APHIS pe mitti g package. No ew soil sampli g was equi ed fo the states cove ed by the epo ts.
“To ou k owledge, this is the fi st time a soil metage omic dataset has bee used i place of ew sampli g to docume t species i dige eity i suppo t of USDA APHIS pe mitti g,” said Joshua Kli g, PhD, Se io Bioi fo maticia i Data Scie ce a d Data E gi ee i g at Ea thOptics. “We spe t mo ths wo ki g th ough the evide ce with Loam Bio to get the epo ti g i to a fo m that a swe ed USDA eviewe s’ questio s di ectly. That wo k is ow behi d us, a d the path is co side ably sho te fo the compa ies that follow.”
“Ea thOptics gave us a path i to states that would othe wise have mea t seaso s of soil collectio , isolatio , a d seque ci g befo e we could eve begi the pe mitti g p ocess. Thei team delive ed igo ous, t a spa e t evide ce egulato s ca use, a d it moved ou expa sio timeli e fo wa d. That ki d of accele atio matte s whe fa me s a e eady to adopt a d the eed fo du able ca bo emoval keeps g owi g,” said Ma k Schulte, Se io Ma age of US P oduct Developme t at Loam Bio.
Ea thOptics checks eve y T uO igi esult th ee ways. It co fi ms the o ga ism’s ide tity agai st its e ti e ge ome athe tha a si gle ge etic ma ke , so the match does ‘t est o o e piece of evide ce. It the tests that o ga ism agai st a efe e ce lib a y of its closest elatives; a st etch of DNA f om a soil sample cou ts as a match o ly if it fits the ta get o ga ism bette tha a y look-alike species. That app oach co ectly disti guishes the ta get f om its elatives mo e tha 99.9% of the time, with false matches below 0.04%. Fi ally, Ea thOptics sets a mi imum evide ce th eshold fo each o ga ism a d epo ts a fi d o ly whe the sig al clea s it. Whe e a o ga ism is ‘t fou d, the epo t states how much sampli g was do e i that a ea athe tha claimi g the o ga ism is abse t.
“This is the outcome the biologicals i dust y has bee waiti g fo ,” said La s Dy ud, CEO at Ea thOptics. “Regulato y evide ce has bee o e of the slowest, most capital-i te sive steps betwee a p omisi g st ai a d a comme cial p oduct. We ca ow sho te that step mea i gfully, a d we have a completed p oject to poi t to.”
Ea thOptics is accepti g ew T uO igi e gageme ts fo the 2027 pe mitti g cycle.
Ea thOptics, headqua te ed i Mi eapolis, Mi esota, delive s adva ced soil i tellige ce fo ag icultu al o ga izatio s by i teg ati g soil-se si g tech ologies, molecula a alysis, bioi fo matics, a d data scie ce. By combi i g high- esolutio field-based se so data with labo ato y assays a d computatio al biology wo kflows, Ea thOptics cha acte izes the chemical, physical, a d biological complexity of soil systems at scale. This e ables biotech compa ies a d la ge ag icultu al e te p ises to gai deepe i sights i to soil fu ctio , mic obial dy amics, ut ie t behavio , a d ag o omic pe fo ma ce, suppo ti g mo e p ecise p oduct developme t, validatio , a d deployme t. With i dust y-leadi g ca bo measu eme t a d qua tificatio capabilities, Ea thOptics also p ovides the igo ous, ve ifiable soil data i f ast uctu e eeded to suppo t pa ticipatio i ca bo ma kets a d b oade sustai ability p og ams.
Loam Bio is a ag icultu al biotech ology compa y usi g oot-associated fu gi to help t a sfo m pla t-captu ed ca bo i to mo e stable soil ca bo pools. Its pate ted a d pate t-pe di g Ca bo Builde ™ tech ology wo ks th ough existi g fa mi g systems, c eati g a scalable, low-i put pathway fo du able soil ca bo emoval while suppo ti g healthie , mo e p oductive fa ms.
Th ough Seco dC op™, Loam Bio’s soil ca bo p og ams measu e, epo t, a d ve ify these emovals to ge e ate high-i teg ity ca bo c edits fo o ga izatio s seeki g du able, scalable, scie ce-backed ca bo emoval.
Scie ce is at the co e of Loam Bio’s app oach. Mycosequest atio is a e gi ee ed co ve sio laye that tu s global ag icultu e’s photosy thesis i to pe ma e ce, co t ollable, measu able, a d deployable th ough a seed coati g at pla ti g. By combi i g mic obial scie ce, di ect soil measu eme t, i depe de t ve ificatio , a d fa me adoptio th ough existi g ag icultu al i f ast uctu e, Loam Bio is c eati g a p actical pathway fo ca bo emoval at scale.
CONTACT: Media Co tacts:
Natalie McC acke
VP of Ma keti g, Ea thOptics
atalie.mcc acke @ea thoptics.com
Cha lotte Walli
Global B a d & Media Ma age , Loam Bio
cha lotte@loambio.com
