Yesterday, the World Health Organization wrapped up its first meeting of a new advisory committee set up to create global governance and oversight standards for human gene editing. The committee was hastily pulled together in December after the revelation last year that a Chinese scientist had genetically modified two embryos using CRISPR technology to remove the […]
View More The World Health Organization is setting up rules and oversight for human gene editingCategory: biotechnology
XGenomes is bringing DNA sequencing to the masses
As healthcare moves toward genetically tailored treatments, one of the biggest hurdles to truly personalized medicine is the lack of fast, low-cost genetic testing. And few people are more familiar with the problems of today’s genetic diagnostics tools than Kalim Mir, the 52-year-old founder of XGenomes, who has spent his entire professional career studying the […]
View More XGenomes is bringing DNA sequencing to the massesMammoth Biosciences adds the final piece of the CRISPR diagnostics puzzle to its toolkit
With the announcement today that Mammoth Biosciences has received the exclusive license from the University of California, Berkeley to the new CRISPR protein Cas14, the company now has the last piece of its diagnostics toolkit in place. Cas14 is a newly discovered protein from the lab of Jennifer Doudna, a pioneer in gene-editing research and […]
View More Mammoth Biosciences adds the final piece of the CRISPR diagnostics puzzle to its toolkitWith $90 million in funding, the Ginkgo spinoff Motif joins the fight for the future of food
Continuing its quest to become the Amazon Web Services for biomanufacturing, Ginkgo Bioworks has launched a new spinoff called Motif Ingredients with $90 million in funding to develop proteins that can serve as meat and dairy replacements. It’s the second spinout for Ginkgo since late 2017 when the company partnered with Bayer to launch Joyn […]
View More With $90 million in funding, the Ginkgo spinoff Motif joins the fight for the future of foodJ&J spends $3.4 billion in cash for Auris Health’s lung cancer diagnostics and surgical robots
Johnson & Johnson’s robotic surgery and medical device division, Ethicon, is dropping $3.4 billion in cash to pick up Auris Health, a developer of robotic diagnostics and surgical devices initially focused on detecting and treating lung cancer. The healthcare giant said an additional $2.35 billion in payouts may be possible if Auris hits certain milestones. […]
View More J&J spends $3.4 billion in cash for Auris Health’s lung cancer diagnostics and surgical robotsTwo 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. […]
View More Two former members of Google’s skunkworks division have launched a biomanufacturing companyDriving down the cost of preserving genetic material, Acorn Biolabs raises $3.3 million
Acorn Biolabs wants consumers to pay them to store genetic material in a bet that the increasing advances in targeted genetic therapies will yield better healthcare results down the line. The company’s pitch is to “Save young cells today, live a longer, better, tomorrow.” It’s a gamble on the frontiers of healthcare technology that has managed […]
View More Driving down the cost of preserving genetic material, Acorn Biolabs raises $3.3 millionUp to $818 million deal between J&J and Locus Biosciences points to a new path for CRISPR therapies
The up to $818 million deal between Locus Biosciences and Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a division of Johnson & Johnson) that was announced yesterday points toward a new path for CRISPR gene editing technologies and (potentially) the whole field of microbiome-targeted therapies. Based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., Locus is commercializing research initially developed by scientists at […]
View More Up to $818 million deal between J&J and Locus Biosciences points to a new path for CRISPR therapiesSophia Genetics bags $77M Series E, with 850+ hospitals signed up to its “data-driven medicine”
Another sizeable cash injection for big data biotech: Sophia Genetics has announced a $77M Series E funding round, bringing its total raised to $140M since the business was founded back in 2011. The company, which applies AI to DNA sequencing to enable what it dubs “data-driven medicine”, last closed a $30M Series D in fall 2017. […]
View More Sophia Genetics bags $77M Series E, with 850+ hospitals signed up to its “data-driven medicine”Companies tracking mutations in cancer cells can provide a key to unlocking better therapies
Investors and entrepreneurs are beginning to bring new diagnostic tools to market that promise better results for cancer patients through the identification of mutations in cancer cells that can create more targeted therapies. Earlier this month, research using technology developed by the startup Mission Bio helped identify cellular mutations in acute myeloid leukemia cancer cells that could […]
View More Companies tracking mutations in cancer cells can provide a key to unlocking better therapiesChina is funding the future of American biotech
Silicon Valley is in the midst of a health craze, and it is being driven by “Eastern” medicine. It’s been a record year for US medical investing, but investors in Beijing and Shanghai are now increasingly leading the largest deals for US life science and biotech companies. In fact, Chinese venture firms have invested more this […]
View More China is funding the future of American biotechAs biological manufacturing moves to the mainstream, Synvitrobio rebrands and raises cash
The pace at which the scientific breakthroughs working to bend the machinery of life to the whims of manufacturing have transformed into real businesses has intensified competition in the biomanufacturing market. That’s just one reason why Synvitrobio is rebranding as it takes on $2.6 million in new financing to pursue opportunities in biopharmaceutical and biochemical manufacturing. […]
View More As biological manufacturing moves to the mainstream, Synvitrobio rebrands and raises cash