December 20, 2017 Comments (0) Views: 2511 Biotech, Biotech Briefing, Blog

Biotech Briefing: Gates Foundation Supports Sirenas’ Marine Drug Discovery

Plus: San Diego EDC’s top 10 stories and what to do with a genetic testing kit

Reports + Research

If Santa Brings you a Genetic Testing Kit

If a genetic testing kit ends up under the Christmas tree, Time magazine gives you some test tips, from how to think about the results to understanding the privacy protection of your genetic data.

Powered by Blockchain, Genomic Startup Luna DNA Raises $2 Million Seed Funding

Luna DNA is described as the “first and only genomic and medical research knowledge base powered by the blockchain and owned by its community.” The startup was established as a public benefit corporation and raised $2 million in seed funds from several individual investors, including former executives from Illumina.

Gates Foundation Supports Sirenas’ Machine-Learning Marine Drug Discovery

San Diego-based biotech company Sirenas has received its second grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which brings the total to $1.68 million. The funds will be used to advance Atlantis, the company’s proprietary drug discovery technology, which uses “big data” approaches to mine naturally occurring chemical entities for potential new therapeutics for infectious diseases.

San Diego EDC’s Top 10 Stories

San Diego EDC says that 2017 was about “growth, innovation, global connectivity and collaboration across different communities and industries.” While it was also a year of uncertainties, we as a community remained committed to driving positive change, and here are the top 10 stories to prove it.

Athena Names New CEO

Earlier this month, Athena’s board of directors appointed Holly Smithson as chief executive officer. Smithson previously served as vice president of business strategy at the California Life Sciences Association.

Read + Listen

POW! Podcast of the Week

To help with those curious kids, or even adults, we looked for the answer to why does Rudolph’s nose glow? Thinking Sideways uncovers the truth about Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.

BOW! Book of the Week

It’s time for a classic. Especially in this current climate, let’s remember the lessons for Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (read it free online via Google). If you don’t want to read it yourself, ask Alexa, and Tim Curry will read it for you.

Events

It’s Happening Here

January 8–11
While it won’t be in San Diego, many from the industry will be in San Francisco January 8–11 for meetings and events surrounding the annual JP Morgan Healthcare conference.

January 8–12
PepTalk: The Protein Science Week is one of the largest annual gatherings of protein science researchers in the world and it is taking place January 8–12 in downtown San Diego.

January 11
SDVG Venture Outlook 2018 just announced keynote speaker Ian Sigalow, partner and cofounder of Greycroft. The event will take place Thursday January 11, from 5:30–8:30 p.m. at Qualcomm, Building N.