In an era where agricultural challenges mount under climate pressures, researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) and the Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) interdisciplinary research group, in collaboration with Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory and MIT, have developed sensors that detect plant dehydration 48 hours before visible signs appear. These covalent organic framework (COF) sensors, integrated with silk fibroin microneedles, measure pH changes in plant xylem tissues – an early indicator of drought stress. Scientific Innovation Meets Agricultural Necessity The COF sensors address a decade-long challenge in agricultural monitoring. Previous attempts to create sensors … Continue reading New Sensors Detect Plant Dehydration 48 Hours Before Visible Signs, Alerting Farmers Early