Water Testing Breakthrough for Scotland

New help is at hand for those working to promote the sustainability and quality of Scotland’s natural environment. EnPrint® Ltd is a brand new spin-out company from the SCRI Group, Scotland’s leading centre for research on plants and their interactions with the environment based in Invergowrie, Dundee.

EnPrint® applies DNA fingerprinting technology to deliver accurate assessment of water quality. This has become a challenging requirement following the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The Directive aims to ensure that all environmental agencies monitor and improve water sources. The intention is that they achieve ‘good’ ecological status by 2015.

EnPrint® is based at Invergowrie at the SCRI Group headquarters on the edge of Dundee. It brings another new, life sciences application to the thriving hub of innovative activity already establishing itself in an area which has seen the decline of traditional, manufacturing industry.

Scotland’s Environment Minister, Roseanna Cunningham, said: “This is another exciting example of the practical uses our scientists are applying their experience and expertise to. “Water quality is of paramount importance, as it is essential for clean drinking water and supports the healthy environments and habitats for which Scotland is renowned the world over. “With the onset of climate change it is increasingly important we are able to detect changes in our natural environment. Such information is essential if we are to make informed decisions to manage these valuable assets for both the health of the environment and the population.”

EnPrint® Chief Executive Officer, Dr Rayne Longhurst, said: “This is an exciting technology with a ready-made market opportunity presented by the WFD, which we are eager to start developing. “The medical and forensic fields already benefit from DNA fingerprinting technology and EnPrint® is perfectly placed to exploit a first-mover advantage towards introducing a similar approach in the environmental sector. “Molecular methods have become important in the assessment of natural populations in most, if not all, ecosystems. The soil ecology group, led by Dr Tim Daniell of the Environment Plant Interactions programme at of SCRI, has developed
a range of molecular tools that the Institute has applied in aquatic systems with support from Scottish Enterprise, under the Proof of Concept funding programme and the local Tayside office.

Mylnefield Research Services Ltd, SCRI’s commercial wing, has been heavily involved in the venture. Start-up capital of £150,000 from the Genomia Seed Fund has also been secured, and was announced today.

Dr Keith Winton, the Managing Director of the Genomia Fund said: "Although Genomia has made investments in spin-outs from other research institutes in Scotland, this is its first in one at SCRI. “We are pleased to be involved with what promises to be an important business opportunity with a market reach stretching far beyond Scottish shores. We look forward to significant success for the company vindicating our faith in the expertise of the team at SCRI." The news has also been welcomed by Perth and Kinross Council. Enterprise and Infrastructure Committee Convener, Councillor John Kellas, congratulated the SCRI on its pioneering work. “We are very lucky to have an organisation like SCRI here,” he said. “It is a very important employer and carries out some very important work which puts our area on the map in terms of its groundbreaking research in this field. This is incredible technology and we are very proud that is has been developed in Perth and Kinross.”

SCRI’s Tim Daniell said: “The state-of-the-art EnPrint® tools replace the traditional methods that involve the use of microscopes. The process allows scores of samples to be analysed simultaneously, and the results can be presented in a format completely compatible with current methods of water testing. It means that EnPrint® technology can be easily integrated into the usual biological toolkit.”

His colleague, Dr David M Roberts, said: “The techniques we have developed will work alongside the existing tools to increase environmental agencies’ ability to spot trends or detect environmental changes”.

Low standards of water quality may threaten the aquatic environment, drinking water quality and recreational water use. According to the Scottish Government* sewage, industry, urban development and agriculture are some of the factors that may affect water quality. In 2006 734 km of Scotland’s rivers were still classed as ‘poor or seriously polluted’.