Futureproofing Aquaculture through field ready diagnostics with Kit Yong

<p>Mr. Kit Yong is the co-founder of <strong>Forte Biotech</strong>, a Singapore-based agritech startup developing rapid, point-of-care molecular diagnostics for aquaculture. </p><p>Forte Biotech was founded in 2021. The concept behind RAPID was inspired by the founders’ experiences working with farmers in Vietnam, as well as insights from their own family businesses. Having witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by farmers, their families, and their livelihoods, the team remains committed to developing solutions that can make a meaningful and lasting impact.</p><p>In this episode, Kit shares how Forte Biotech was founded to address a critical but overlooked problem in shrimp farming: catastrophic losses due to undetected disease outbreaks. He explains how the company built a portable isothermal amplification platform and proprietary DNA extraction chemistry capable of handling challenging shrimp samples, enabling farmers to conduct reliable, onsite pathogen detection without complex laboratory infrastructure.</p><p><br /></p><p>Host: Aakash Naresh Kumar</p><p>Editors: Dillon Chew, Shamieraah Jamal, Vasilina Gedzun, Hana Maldivita Tambrin</p><p>Timestamp</p><p>00:00 Meet Kit Yong</p><p>02:33 No Manual for Startups</p><p>04:09 Why Forte Bio Started</p><p>06:53 Net Zero and Farm Impact</p><p>09:35 Rapid DNA Extraction Breakthrough</p><p>11:57 Sample Degradation and False Negatives</p><p>14:44 Major Shrimp Diseases Explained</p><p>18:26 Bridging Farmers and Scientists</p><p>20:18 Portable Hardware and Isothermal Tech</p><p>21:19 Balancing Cost Accuracy</p><p>21:55 Rapid Hardware Overview</p><p>22:52 On Farm Reliability Lessons</p><p>24:53 Scaling Across Southeast Asia Markets</p><p>25:46 Regulation And Local Partners</p><p>31:09 Building An Agile Team</p><p>33:40 Diagnostics And Food Security</p><p>35:57 Milestones Profitability Goals</p><p>36:47 Science Communication For Impact</p>