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Discover more stories about Mitacs — and the game-changing innovations driven by students and postdocs.
With the Food and Agriculture Organization reporting that up to 40% of global crop production is lost to plant pests and diseases each year, triggering crop shortages that drive up food costs, one up-and-coming Saskatoon entrepreneur is on a mission to do something about it – and he’s starting with saving crops across the province.
Ethan Done, a University of Saskatchewan biochemistry graduate and co-founder of Saskatoon-based PathoScan Technologies, saw that gap firsthand while demonstrating pathogen testing services at agricultural events. Farmers kept asking whether they could run tests on the spot. The equipment made that impossible. So Done, alongside co-founder and CEO Tayab Soomro, built something that could.
The result is the PathoBox: roughly the size of a lunchbox, it delivers crop disease results in under two hours, right in the field. Crushed plant material is combined with a chemical reagent and heated inside the device; if disease-causing DNA is present, the liquid changes colour. A single PathoBox processes up to eight samples at once.
“This time lag can mean the difference between farmers losing their crop or having the ability to save their plants by treating them for diseases quickly, which ultimately helps protect both their livelihood and Canada’s food supply, and brings the cost of food down,” said Done. “We’re harnessing our technology to make farming more efficient, sustainable and profitable,” he explained.
With Mitacs support, Done is now pursuing a PhD tied directly to the company’s R&D. Last summer’s pilot delivered early proof of concept: one producer detected a pathogen early enough to treat it, preventing an estimated $240,000 in yield losses. An AI-powered upgrade arriving next season will add computer vision to assess disease severity and push a full treatment report to the farmer’s smartphone within minutes.
About Mitacs
For over 25 years, Mitacs has helped grow the economy and develop the workforce of tomorrow, connecting industry with academia and global partners to solve real-world challenges. We support business-academic research collaboration through internships, co-funded with businesses, for undergraduate to graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.
As a national innovation connector, Mitacs takes a talent-first approach to strengthen innovation capacity and drive global competitiveness. We serve as an essential research-commercialization bridge, accelerating market entry and growth for new products and services.
This is a critical time for Canada to think big and take bold action. Mitacs is ready to help build a strong and resilient Canadian economy, powered by ideas, talent and innovation.
Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.
