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23&Me bankrupt, BodyOids, At-home insemination, Nanopore protein sequencing, GRIDX US Tour
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Breaking: 23&Me bankrupt
Once a pioneer in consumer biotech services, the Wojcicki-led company has been busy dying for at least four years now. Declining sales, the 2023 cyber attack, a shift of focus towards drug discovery, and failing to capture value from the exponential decline in DNA sequencing have all been part of the story.
Co-founder Linda Avey shared her thoughts on a LinkedIn post, mainly exhibiting discontent with how the company was run after her departure in 2009:
There are many cautionary tales buried in the 23andMe story. Striking a balance between the desire for founder control and board oversight is essential; otherwise, why have a board at all?
Many users are reasonably worried for who will own their data and what they’ll do with it if the founder’s third bid for the company doesn’t come through. Meanwhile, the new technological and cultural zeitgeist is placing health insights in patients’ hands. Just in time, I’ve got my Nucleus Genomics test results — Stay tuned for that video ;D
Philosophy corner: Bodyoids
A full-blown human body derived from your stem cells and grown in an artificial womb. It looks like you, it is you from the DNA to its expression in every single trait. Except it’s been bioengineered to lack sentience or the ability to feel pain. Thus, you can use this ‘clone’ to harvest young and healthy organs to replace in yourself — Kidney giving you trouble lately? Use your clone’s! Need some blood? Your Bodyoid’s here for ya. Want to A/B test a new therapy that may be a little risky? You’ve got your double… or triple, or a whole Garden of You 🙊
An ethical aberration? The cure to all disease? Both? None? So far the arguments against human genetic engineering have focused too much on enhancement and the threat of bioweapons. What about human dehancement, or reduction, from the moment “one is” a single-cell, or even starting from sexual gametes?
Physical technologies like bodyoids and neuron-made computers present an alternative to the long-held vision of isolated 3D bio-printed organs or even digital simulations of the human body. However, clear technical questions still seem hard to surmount, like how to grow an 18-year-old heart without having to wait 18 years, and before that, how to even grow a baby.
For controversial and often stupid Jiankui He’s tweets may seem, he may be right in one point: we need new ethical frameworks for new biology. As Julian Huxley would point out since last century, New Bottles for New Wine.
Interesting company: Frida Fertility’s at-home insemination
It’s 2025. Fertility shouldn’t be this taboo and boring conversation you have quietly inside the doctor’s office. If you have fertility problems, get Frida’s $50 at-home insemination kits, watch the TikTok tutorial, and have some fun making the baby. Easy as!
Supplements for egg and sperm health, ovulation tests, conception-friendly lubricant, pregnancy skincare, and other postpartum products also offered on their website.
In the papers: Nanopore sequencing for proteins
The DNA alphabet is 4 bases long, proteins’ is at least 20 amino acids long. Researchers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands predict that nanopores will be capable of identifying full-length proteins with single-amino acid resolution.
Similar to how mass spectrometry generates molecular fingerprints based on mass and charge, a unique electrical pattern may be generated when a peptide passes through a nanopore, based its sequence of amino acids, charge, and volume. Alternatively, exopeptidases may be used to release amino acids sequentially before identifying them. A chop-and-drop mechanism that attaches a peptidase above the nanopore may turn both methods into single-molecule approaches.
Cool opportunity: GRIDX US tour
Learn about 21 of Latin America’s best biotech companies, backed by the leading biotech VC firm in the region, GRIDX. They’ll be in Tulsa on April 23rd with Mike Basch from Atento Capital, NYC on April 29th with Sean O'Sullivan from SOSV, and SF on May 5th with John Cumbers from Synbiobeta and Po Bronson from IndieBio.
I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with GRIDX on theses for Biotech In LatAm: Decode, Edit, and an interview with their very own Matias Peire. Ours is the region with the most biodiversity in the world, we have great talent, and 1/5 R&D costs compared to the US. GRIDX joins scientists and business people to form great ventures. Many friends of mine have joined them, so why not you too?
