Roche, the global pharmaceutical company from Switzerland, today announced it will scoop up Flatiron Health, a startup analyzing real-time oncology data to help cancer patients and doctors, in a $1.9 billion deal. Flatiron has also confirmed the deal to TechCrunch. Read More
Category: Bio
Human sequencing pioneer George Church wants to give you the power to sell your DNA on the blockchain
The blockchain is the buzziest thing on the internet these days and now MIT professor and godfather of the Human Genome Project George Church wants to put your genes on it.
His new startup Nebula Genomics plans to sequence your genome for under $1,000 (the current going rate of whole genome sequencing) and then add your data to the blockchain through the purchase of a “Nebula… Read More
This company will tell you which vitamins and supplements to take based on your DNA
Nutrigene believes your genes may hold the secret to what you might be missing in your diet. The company will send you tailor-made liquid vitamin supplements based on a lifestyle quiz and your DNA. Read More
View More This company will tell you which vitamins and supplements to take based on your DNANIH study links cell phone radiation to cancer in male rats
New studies from the National Institutes of Health — specifically the National Toxicology Program — find that cell phone radiation is potentially linked with certain forms of cancer, but they’re far from conclusive. The results are complex and the studies have yet to be peer reviewed, but some of the findings are clearly important enough to warrant public discussion. Read More
Watch what it actually looks like when CRISPR snips a strand of DNA
The CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique is an important concept to know about in these days of biotech advances, but it can be pretty difficult to visualize properly. Is it really like molecular scissors? Where does the DNA go? Is it a big molecul…
View More Watch what it actually looks like when CRISPR snips a strand of DNAWhile the U.S. waits, China has been CRISPRing human cancer patients since 2015
While the U.S. is just gearing up to the idea of CRISPRing its first humans, China seems to be benefiting from the “move fast and break things” — or cut them with the CRISPR scissors — motto. As The Wall Street Journal reports, China has already gene-edited 86 people using CRISPR-Cas9 since 2015. Unhindered by rules and regulations like the ones we have in America… Read More
Watch a thought race across the surface of the brain
Although neuroscientists have a general idea of what parts of the brain do what, catching them in the act is a difficult proposition. But UC Berkeley researchers have managed to do it, visualizing based on direct measurement the path of a single …
View More Watch a thought race across the surface of the brainIt’s surprisingly easy to program living tissue to form new 3D shapes
The boundary between biology and technology blurs further and further as researchers discover more and more parallels between the two. Today they have found that it’s relatively simple to essentially hack living tissue by programming a pattern into cells, making them grow and fold on their own into a desired shape. Read More
GE Ventures unveils new blood collection startup Drawbridge Health
Drawbridge Health wants to make it easier for doctor’s offices and clinics to collect small samples of your blood for testing on site with a handheld device. The device uses proprietary technology to collect and stabilize just a few drops of blood for various tests like hormone levels, genetic testing, monitoring disease and other things patients normally have to get done at an outside… Read More
GE Ventures unveils new blood collection startup Drawbridge Health
Drawbridge Health wants to make it easier for doctor’s offices and clinics to collect small samples of your blood for testing on site with a handheld device. The device uses proprietary technology to collect and stabilize just a few drops of blood for various tests like hormone levels, genetic testing, monitoring disease and other things patients normally have to get done at an outside… Read More
The top 10 tech companies with the best fertility benefits
Thinking of starting a family but need a little help from science? IVF costs alone can be exorbitant, ranging from $12,000 to $20,000 per cycle, depending on where you live — and most couples will need to do two or three cycles just to get a baby. The good news is, Facebook, Apple and Google paved the way for fertility perks a couple of years ago in an effort to entice more women to… Read More
uBiome launches an at-home women’s health test for HPV, STI’s and bacterial vaginosis
SmartJane is a new women’s health test out from uBiome today that promises to check for 23 vaginal flora as well as 11 strains of the human papilloma virus and a string of sexually transmitted diseases like Chlamydia and gonorrhea from the comfort of your own home.
uBiome, which launched in 2012 to sequence and study the human microbiome, is best known for its at-home gut health test… Read More