Mendelspod Podcast

"We’re not a sequencing company," says Molly He, CEO and co-founder of Element Biosciences in our first interview with the leader of the hot new sequencing company which seemed to come out of nowhere this past year. “We’re a biology company.”Not a sequencing company? Element has just taken the lead in the race toward cheap clinical genomes, and their CEO is putting that news aside in today’s interview. Instead, she’s much more interested in touting the company’s core technology “avidity.” The term comes from a core reagent the company has labeled an “avidite.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Biology is complex, and the life science tool kit continues to expand to meet the challenge of that complexity taking us into the world of multi omics and beyond. Today we talk about 3D genomics and what this additional three-dimensional structural information is telling not just researchers, but clinicians, particularly in oncology. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Today we talk with Simon Fredriksson, CEO and co-founder of Pixelgen Technologies, a company just out of stealth offering spatial technology that maps cellular surface proteins at the single cell level. Called molecular pixelation, the breakthrough technology is designed to first target immune cells. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Editor's Note: Theral's mic malfunctioned in this interview. Fortunately the not as good backup mic did work and John has a good mic.  Our apologies.John Greally joins us today. He is the founding Director of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Center for Epigenomics. He’s a pediatrician and a clinical geneticist with appointments in both at Einstein. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Last month the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) took a quite remarkable step, putting out a formal statement of apology for its past history of involvement with eugenics. Some say it’s long overdue while some of us didn’t know about this history. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

23andMe occupies its own place in the world of genomics. Known for its vision to democratize human genomic information, the company has always gone big and bold, and sometimes controversial. Today we don’t hear much controversy—is that because their approach has won out? In any case, they have certainly achieved a scale that surpasses any other genetic testing company. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Remember all those firsts for synthetic biology that we heard about coming from Craig Venter’s company, Synthetic Genomics in San Diego? The first genome of a whole organism transplanted. First genome synthesized. First synthetic life created. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Oncology has emerged as the most successful disease area for precision medicine. Last year, as the genetic testing industry went through a royal shake-up brought on mostly by external market forces, it's been no surprise that precision oncology has been touted as a core strength. As the industry now works "to be more lean and profitable"--new language one hears these days, cancer testing will be a big part of that effort. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

To begin the year, we head across the pond for an outlook on the thriving community of synthetic biology in the United Kingdom.Paul Freemont was a co-author of the UK's synthetic biology roadmap and co-directs SynbiCITE, the national center for the commercialization of synthetic biology. A few years ago the government put an initial investment of $300 million pounds into the field, and "everything was going swimmingly well," says Paul. "Then COVID happened." This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe

Our goal with today’s show was twofold: bring you a practical holiday gift idea and to take you into the world of a synthetic biology entrepreneur. Our guest: Zack Abbott, CEO of ZBiotics.Zack is a scientist turned businessman who is on a mission to change the conversation around GMOs. His first product is a genetically engineered probiotic that alleviates the morning-after hangover by breaking down acetaldehyde. Zack says he chose this product because it’s something consumers can choose to take—unlike a medicine that’s necessary like insulin. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mendelspod.com/subscribe