--- description: Find out why Biobot Analytics was selected for the list title: TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2022: Biobot Analytics image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt841f6fffdb770c10/698a303047ca38b4a53b9677/T100-Companies-P-Biobot.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Mar 30, 2022 # Biobot Analytics Tracking COVID-19 by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/) ## Alice Park Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent  Mariana Matus is a Mexican biologist and the CEO and co-founder of Biobot Analytics, a startup that aims to help governments tackle the opioid crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing sewage samples. Mariana Matus is a Mexican biologist and the CEO and co-founder of Biobot Analytics, a startup that aims to help governments tackle the opioid crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing sewage samples.Biobot Despite [cutting-edge vaccines](https://time.com/5927342/mrna-covid-vaccine/ "undefined") and treatments, one of the most effective ways to stay on top of COVID-19 surges relies on a decidedly basic entity: human waste. Biobot, co-founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology biologist Mariana Matus and urban-studies researcher Newsha Ghaeli, is the first company to analyze human waste—which can provide an early warning of an impending spike in COVID-19 cases—on a commercial basis. Its technology, which can detect pathogens as well as other substances of interest (like opioids), is now in use at more than 700 sewage sites serving more than 100 million people. _A weekly newsletter featuring conversations with the world’s top CEOs, managers, and founders._ [_Join the Leadership Brief_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=leadership&source=100companies "undefined"). Biobot Analytics Is one of the 2022 TIME100 Most Influential Companies ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies-2022/6159393/biobot-analytics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies-2022/6159393/biobot-analytics/"},"headline":"Biobot Analytics","datePublished":"2022-03-30T10:21:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:01:07.919Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies-2022/6159393/biobot-analytics/","keywords":["metaverse","TIME100 Companies","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt841f6fffdb770c10/698a303047ca38b4a53b9677/T100-Companies-P-Biobot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"creator":"Alice Park","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt841f6fffdb770c10/698a303047ca38b4a53b9677/T100-Companies-P-Biobot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies-2022/6159393/biobot-analytics/","name":"Biobot Analytics"}}]}] ```