Two former members of Google’s skunkworks division have launched a biomanufacturing company

Biomanufacturing technologies — taking modified versions of existing organisms and bending them to the will of humans — has moved from the world of science fiction to becoming a new reality. Across the startup landscape companies are launching to make synthetic spider silk, or make leather substitutes, or meat substitutes, or novel chemicals and pharmaceuticals. […]

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Consumer-focused healthcare can save lives by focusing on changing behavior

Vijay Pande Contributor Share on Twitter Vijay Pande, PhD, is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University, where he continues to advise the Pande Lab — focused on tackling challenging problems in chemical biology, biophysics, and biomedicine. Everything we do in the $3 trillion healthcare […]

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Japan’s “Society 5.0” initiative is a roadmap for today’s entrepreneurs

Mark Minevich Contributor Share on Twitter Mark Minevich is a digital fellow at IPSoft. Japan, still suffering the consequences of its ‘Lost Decade’ of economic stagnation, is eyeing a transformation more radical than any the industrialized world has ever seen. Boldly identified as “Society 5.0” Japan describes its initiative as a purposeful effort to create […]

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Rana el Kaliouby and Alexei Efros will be speaking at TC Sessions: Robotics + AI April 18 at UC Berkeley

TechCrunch’s third robotics event is just over two and a half months away, and it’s already shaping up to be a doozy. We’ve already announced Anca Dragan, Melonee Wise, Hany Farid and Peter Barrett for our event and have an exciting pair of new names to share with you. UC Berkeley’s Alexei Efros and Affectiva CEO […]

View More Rana el Kaliouby and Alexei Efros will be speaking at TC Sessions: Robotics + AI April 18 at UC Berkeley

California moves toward healthcare for more, not yet healthcare for all

It was way easier for candidate Gavin Newsom to endorse single-payer healthcare coverage for everyone than it is now for Gov. Newsom to deliver it.

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Lack of transparency in healthcare startups risks another Theranos implosion

Are more Theranos -style scandals looming for investors in healthcare startups? A team of researchers associated with the Meta Research Innovation Center at Stanford thinks so. They’ve  published a paper warning investors in life sciences startups that a systemic lack of transparency exists in their portfolio companies — creating the possibility for more multi-billion dollar implosions and […]

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Samsung is ditching plastic packaging

Samsung Electronics said Sunday it will replace plastic packaging used for its bevy of products from mobile phones and tablets to home appliances and wearables with paper and other environmentally sustainable materials like recycled/bio-based plastics. Samsung will start making the switch in the first half of the year. The company aims to only use paper packaging materials […]

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China’s JD.com tests drone delivery in Indonesia in first overseas pilot

We hear a lot about drones having the potential to revolutionize delivery and logistics. It’s easy to be dismissive — in many cases, a robot may take what would be a human’s job — but there are some examples where drone technology could genuinely be transformative. One such case is Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest […]

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Pocket’s reading app won’t sound so robotic now

Last year, Mozilla made its first acquisition by snatching up Pocket, the Instapaper competitor that helps you save longer articles for later reading. Today, this popular reading app is getting a major update that gives its app a visual makeover, including a new dark mode, and most importantly, a better way to listen to the […]

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