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We build a cell-based platform for cost-efficient and scalable production of high-quality mRNA to unlock next generation of mRNA medicines.\n\nMy background is in computational modeling of biological systems and bioengineering. I have worked on developing Slovak national biosecurity policies - I am passionate about building biotech ecosystem in Eastern Europe. I studied Bioengineering at Imperial College London and Engineering at Oxford.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/miroslavgasparek/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/MiroGasparek", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d25e01e0699856449f168b5f4aa9f2e1383bd123.jpg" }, { "user_id": 475409, "full_name": "Marian Kupculak", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I am Marian, the Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Sensible Biotechnologies. We are building a new platform for cost-efficient and scalable manufacturing of high-quality mRNA.\n\nI have more than 9 year of experience in biochemistry and molecular biology, more specifically in cellular engineering and downstream processing. I am interesting in engineering cells to produce high-quality proteins and nucleic acids.\n\nI did my PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, UK. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/marian-kupculak-34468a85/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e253a90c972be4ed5e591a638f3473284857f69c.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Sensible Biotechnologies Partners with Ginkgo to Develop Novel mRNA Manufacturing Platform", "url": "https://www.genengnews.com/topics/bioprocessing/sensible-biotechnologies-partners-with-ginkgo-to-develop-novel-mrna-manufacturing-platform/", "date": "Apr 04, 2023" }, { "title": "Ginkgo partners up with Sensible Biotechnologies to forge mRNA manufacturing platform – Endpoints News", "url": "https://endpts.com/ginkgo-partners-up-with-sensible-biotechnologies-to-forge-mrna-manufacturing-platform/", "date": "Apr 03, 2023" }, { "title": "Sensible Biotechnologies And Ginkgo Bioworks Announce Partnership To Make In Vivo RNA To Unlock The Promise Of RNA Therapeutics", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/johncumbers/2023/04/03/sensible-biotechnologies-and-ginkgo-bioworks-announce-partnership-to-make-in-vivo-rna-to-unlock-the-promise-of-rna-therapeutics/", "date": "Apr 03, 2023" }, { "title": "Developing a Novel mRNA Manufacturing Platform with Sensible Biotechnologies - Ginkgo Bioworks", "url": "https://www.ginkgobioworks.com/2023/04/03/developing-a-novel-mrna-manufacturing-platform-with-sensible-biotechnologies/", "date": "Apr 03, 2023" }, { "title": "Sensible Biotechnologies Announces Partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks to Develop Novel mRNA Manufacturing Platform", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sensible-biotechnologies-announces-partnership-with-ginkgo-bioworks-to-develop-novel-mrna-manufacturing-platform-301787563.html", "date": "Apr 03, 2023" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 70713, "title": "Sensible Biotechnologies: Engineering cells to make better mRNA 🧬", "tagline": "mRNA. Made better.", "body": "At Sensible Bio, we are turning living cells into cost-efficient factories for manufacturing high-quality mRNA to unlock the full potential of mRNA therapeutics and vaccines.\n\n### **tl;dr**\n\nMessenger RNA (mRNA) is a promising biological platform for both vaccines and therapeutics. Today, all mRNA is synthesised via cell-free processes, which are expensive, cumbersome, and cannot produce mRNA with sufficient quality for many of its promising clinical applications. **We engineer cells to produce high-quality mRNA in a scalable and cost-efficient fashion to meet the growing demand for mRNA in novel vaccines and therapies.**\n\n### **The Problem: Cell-free mRNA manufacturing**\n\nCurrently, mRNA production completely relies on In Vitro Transcription (IVT), a cell-free process involving numerous proprietary and expensive enzymes and reagents. This method also requires multiple intricate steps, laborious purification procedures, and cannot be scaled to large reaction volumes.\n\nImportantly, IVT-based mRNA manufacturing generates highly immunogenic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which is posing risks in some of the most important applications of mRNA such as in gene editing and cancer. Moreover, it is difficult to produce and purify long mRNA sequences via IVT; this creates major obstacles for other promising mRNA modalities like self-amplifying mRNAs, which could significantly reduce the high amounts of mRNA needed for many of its therapeutic applications.\n\n**To truly unleash the power of mRNA more efficient, affordable, and effective mRNA manufacturing methods are needed.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=70713&key=user_uploads/89898/0eb9ee01-1c73-46bd-b15f-3bc3376e2176)\n\n## **The Solution: Cell-free mRNA manufacturing (not done)**\n\n**We are utilizing the processes in the living cells, which have been producing high-quality mRNA for millions of years.** By combining natural cellular processes with cell engineering, we build a scalable platform to produce high-quality mRNA cost-effectively.\n\nOur platform enables the production of **longer mRNA**, while addressing the problem of **immunogenic double-stranded RNA** inherent in IVT.\n\nBy removing the need for expensive and proprietary reagents, we enable **cost-effective mRNA manufacturing** and improve access to mRNA technology. Also, the **scalability** of cell-based mRNA production strengthens biosecurity and supply chain resilience.\n\nOur objective is to become a partner for all pharma and biotech companies striving to produce the next generation of mRNA therapies and vaccines.\n\n## **The Platform**\n\nOur platform combines the principles of **cell engineering**, **computational** **biology** and **precision** **fermentation**. We exploit and optimise the selective packaging of the mRNA of interest into specific protein complexes. This enables a specific encapsulation of mRNA, prevents mRNA contamination and simplifies its downstream processing.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=70713&key=user_uploads/89898/01d827a8-d966-4616-a155-5a029401da1d)\n\n## **Team**\n\nSensible Bio was founded in August 2021 by **Miroslav Gasparek** (CEO) and **Dr Marian Kupculak** (CSO).\n\n**Miro** holds a Bioengineering degree from Imperial College London and conducted research at Imperial College, Caltech and Stanford. He worked with several TechBio VCs and advised public and private institutions in Central Europe on life science R&D. Miro also advised the Slovak Ministry of Health and the Board Member of the World Health Organization on biosecurity and innovation.\n\n**Marian** has a PhD in Molecular Biology from Oxford, where he focused on genetic engineering and cancer. He has more than 9 years of full-time wet-lab experience with cellular engineering. He has worked at the leading European research centres, including the University of Oxford, the University of Gothenburg, and Vienna BioCenter.\n\nOur leadership includes the **global leaders in mRNA manufacturing**, as well as in **clinical development and strategy**. We also assembled a fantastic team of bioengineers and scientists from across the globe.\n\n## **Traction**\n\nUsing our proprietary technology we have demonstrated the **capability to produce the mRNA**. Additionally, we have secured a major [co-development partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks](https://www.ginkgobioworks.com/2023/04/03/developing-a-novel-mrna-manufacturing-platform-with-sensible-biotechnologies/). We also set up collaborations with leading research institutions across the globe. Sensible Biotechnologies has established lab operations in **Oxford, United Kingdom** and **Bratislava, Slovakia**. We have obtained **10 Letters of Intent** for our mRNA from the biotech companies and research groups that would like to test it.\n\nOur **scientific advisory board** includes world-leading synthetic biology, mRNA manufacturing, and clinical experts and our mentors include the top life science executives.\n\nOur investors include **specialist** **TechBio** **funds** and leading **biotech executives** investing as angels.\\\n\\\nWe're excited to be working on unlocking the full potential of mRNA technology. Are you interested? Get in touch at [**info@sensible.bio**](mailto:info@sensible.bio).\n\nDo you want to build the platform for making better mRNA with us? Drop us an email at [**careers@sensible.bio**](mailto:careers@sensible.bio) We are hiring **synthetic biologists**, **bioprocess** **engineers**, **mRNA Quality Control experts**, **RNA computational biologists**, and **machine learning engineers.**", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/IOX-sensible-biotechnologies-engineering-cells-to-make-better-mrna", "votes": 19, "created_at": "2023-04-03T16:24:05.337Z" } ] }, { "id": 25331, "name": "Engage Bio", "slug": "engage-bio", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e95b5dd7ee1a5f617dc0a83136e30199f883050a.png", "website": "http://engagebio.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Engage Bio has developed Tethosomes, a new class of non-viral DNA which finally unleashes potent, durable, redosable, and scalable genetic medicine.\r\n \r\nIn 2026 Engage was acquired by Eli Lilly.", "one_liner": "Potent, durable, and redosable non-viral genetic medicines", "team_size": 10, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Therapeutics", "launched_at": 1647555290, "tags": [ "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Healthcare", "Therapeutics", "Drug discovery" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Acquired", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Therapeutics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/engage-bio", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/engage-bio.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/engagebio/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e95b5dd7ee1a5f617dc0a83136e30199f883050a.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 25399, "name": "Invert", "slug": "invert", "former_names": [ "Invert Bio" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1e1a589d7f48cf8cc7fb3658ec8dea0855d526a0.png", "website": "http://www.invertbio.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "We build software to manage, analyze, and optimize bioprocessing data. Our initial customers are bio-industrial companies, who produce various products in bioreactors.\r\n\r\n", "one_liner": "Data analytics software for biomanufacturing.", "team_size": 25, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Industrial Bio", "launched_at": 1648234072, "tags": [ "Cellular Agriculture", "Machine Learning", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Industrial Bio" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/invert", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/invert.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/invertinc", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1e1a589d7f48cf8cc7fb3658ec8dea0855d526a0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 250294, "full_name": "Martin T. Permin", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Hi, I'm Martin. I care about bio and data stuff. I also like to run really long distances on mountain trails.\n\nPreviously, I worked at Airbnb, and Hive (YC s14).", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-tromp-permin-99064792/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/purrmin", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ecd08a4e7fe0da29dcbadf8ca9894bf381f93511.jpg" }, { "user_id": 181145, "full_name": "Holger Thorup", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Prev. VP of Eng at ZeroNorth, CTO/Founder at Pelion, and a recovering consultant.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/holgerthorup/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/holgerthorup", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4767371a5ac1b02067c307e464c2cb7191f94bdd.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 67926, "title": "Senior Software Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/invert/jobs/5hY2hlY-senior-software-engineer", "location": "CA / US / Remote (CA; US)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$130K - $200K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "6+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [ "Amazon Web Services (AWS)", "Python", "React", "TypeScript" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 26427, "name": "Eugit Therapeutics", "slug": "eugit-therapeutics", "former_names": [ "EUGIT Tx", "EUGIT Therapeutics", "Eugit", "Eugit Therapeutics Inc" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a88b74cc086730f852f068c605f2dcaa54b40a16.png", "website": "http://www.eugittx.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; South San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Eugit Therapeutics targets the issue of non-specific drugs that cause toxicity and clinical trial failures, affecting millions with tissue-specific inflammatory diseases. TAGHOME delivers drugs with precision to diseased tissues using T cell receptors, enhancing safety and improving efficacy. Our initial focus is on the 3.1 million U.S. individuals with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, aiming to initiate clinical trials within two years.\r\n\r\nCofounded by George Church (Harvard) and funded by Y Combinator (S22).", "one_liner": "Enabling Tissue Targeting of Therapies", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Therapeutics", "launched_at": 1656718658, "tags": [ "Cell Therapy", "Synthetic Biology", "Therapeutics", "Oncology", "Biotechnology" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Therapeutics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/eugit-therapeutics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2022/eugit-therapeutics.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/eugit", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a88b74cc086730f852f068c605f2dcaa54b40a16.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 588526, "full_name": "Nizar Batada", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Nizar is the co-founder and CEO at EUGIT, which he started with George Church in 2022. He is an expert in cancer research, genomics and bioinformatics and has published over 25 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature and has obtained nationally competitive grants. Prior to EUGIT, he was a scientist at 23andMe and a tenure track lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Nizar grew up in Toronto and obtained his PhD in Biophysics from Stanford.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/nizar-batada", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/aa4ec5a091a22bc8ded999621c25385540ddb3cb.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 64275, "title": "EUGIT Therapeutics – Next generation T cell based cancer immunotherapy", "tagline": "Engineered gamma delta T-cells for off-the-shelf treatment of cancers", "body": "We are a therapeutics company that is developing immune cell based therapy for treatment of breast, ovarian and prostate cancers.\n\n**Problem**\n\nCancer remains an unsolved problem – it is expected that 1.8M new cancer cases and 0.6M cancer deaths will occur this year in the US (source CDC). Although development of immunotherapies such as checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-T cells have shown remarkable clinical success, they work for only a few cancer types. In particular, they do not work for some of the most common types of cancers in women (breast and ovarian) and men (prostate).\n\n**Solution**\n\nBuilding upon the discoveries of the founders, EUGIT Therapeutics is engineering cancer-fighting immune cells known as the gamma delta T cells which overcome the limitations of existing cancer immunotherapies.\n\n**How it works**\n\nWe take blood from healthy donors and isolate a specific type of immune cell called the gamma delta T cell and then endow them with cancer fighting activity via gene engineering. Our engineered T cells can be used off-the-shelf and ready for infusion into cancer patients.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=64275&key=user_uploads/588526/a5ffcb03-a060-4080-9d9b-df2e92e6e72f)\n\n**Founders**\n\n[George Church](https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-church-2b86301/) (Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor): George is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and leads Synthetic Biology at the Wyss Institute. His innovations have contributed to nearly all \"next generation\" DNA sequencing methods and companies (CGI-BGI, Life, Illumina, Nanopore). This plus his lab's work on chip-DNA-synthesis, gene editing and stem cell engineering resulted in founding additional application-based companies spanning fields of medical diagnostics ( Knome/PierianDx, Alacris, AbVitro/Juno, Genos, Veritas Genetics ) & synthetic biology / therapeutics ( Joule, Gen9, Editas, Egenesis, enEvolv, WarpDrive ). \n\n[Nizar Batada](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nizar-batada/) (Co-Founder and CEO): Nizar is a cancer biologist with over 20 years of experience working in genomics and cancer research. He did his PhD at Stanford and postdoc with George Church. Previously, he was a tenure track group leader at the University of Edinburgh where he directed a research lab that focused on cancer immunology. Before founding EUGIT therapeutics, he was a senior scientist at 23andMe’s Therapeutics division. The current work he is pursuing at EUGIT therapeutics is based on his discovery of a subtype of tumor infiltrating gamma delta T cells that are associated with good clinical outcomes in breast cancer. ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Gih-eugit-therapeutics-next-generation-t-cell-based-cancer-immunotherapy", "votes": 20, "created_at": "2022-07-01T19:56:00.640Z" } ] }, { "id": 26554, "name": "Cisterna Biologics", "slug": "cisterna-biologics", "former_names": [ "Cisterna Biologics LLC", "Cisterna Biologic" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/fa3a5ab85434b41a7ce57fae09e3c4645bc55f02.png", "website": "http://www.cisternabx.com", "all_locations": "San Diego, CA, USA", "long_description": "Founded in 2022 and based in San Diego, California, Cisterna Biologics is a technology company. It aims to solve some of the challenges currently facing the biotech industry to develop mRNA-based therapeutics – quality, quantity, longevity and cost of mRNA. As mRNA technology matures, it becomes imperative that these issues are solved so we can fully explore mRNA's endless possibilities as a therapeutic.\r\n\r\nCisterna uses proprietary technologies to either remove a contaminant at its source or replace the source itself. For example, to remove double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), we use ribozymes - molecular scissors - to precisely cut the mRNA at its 3’ end. This assures not only 3’ homogeneity, but also eliminates dsRNA, which are primarily produced due to self-templated additions at the 3’ end. Utilizing a PCR-like system to amplify the DNA template in large quantities eliminates the requirement for plasmid enrichment in bacteria, the prime source of endotoxin contamination. These are just a few examples of Cisterna’s powerful technologies being used to achieve our goal of 10x higher quality mRNA for therapeutic application.", "one_liner": "High quality mRNA for therapeutic application", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare", "launched_at": 1656370216, "tags": [ "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Therapeutics" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/cisterna-biologics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2022/cisterna-biologics.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "San Diego", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/cisterna-biologics/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/CisternaBXhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/cisterna-biologics/", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/fa3a5ab85434b41a7ce57fae09e3c4645bc55f02.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 896844, "full_name": "Hari Bhaskaran", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Hari Bhaskaran's journey with RNAs started with ribozymes (catalytic RNAs) almost 20 years ago in the labs of Rick Russell at UT Austin. His PhD work was focused on mechanistic understanding of RNA folding, culminating in a seminal publication in Nature (see Bhaskaran and Russell, 2007). Since then, he has held positions of increasing responsibilities in both academia and industry. He is the author of several publications and industry patents.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/hari-bhaskaran-7697a795/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/c702b50cf2197208b8ba999e857c4d6c8ebea2d5.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 64126, "title": "Cisterna Biologics - High quality mRNA for therapeutic application 👩🏽‍🔬", "tagline": "Cisterna uses proprietary technologies to build the next generation of mRNA, free of impurities, at a fraction of the price.", "body": "Cisterna Biologics is a technology company. It aims to solve the main challenges currently facing the biotech industry to develop mRNA-based therapeutics – quality, quantity, longevity and cost of mRNA. As mRNA technology matures, it becomes imperative that these issues are solved so we can fully explore mRNA's endless possibilities as a therapeutic.\n\n### **Context:**\n\nMany of you likely had mRNA vaccines to protect against COVID-19 - but how many of you know that mRNAs are being developed into other cutting edge, life-saving therapeutics? It is very likely that a large portion of the future treatments that you and I take for a number of ailments will be in the form of mRNA-based therapeutics. The range of diseases that mRNA promises to treat include heart disease, liver dysfunction, solid tumors, blood cancers, and several genetic disorders.\n\n### **Problem:**\n\nFor therapeutic applications, the quality of the mRNA needs to be extremely high compared to mRNA used for vaccines. For example, one of the well-known contaminants, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is present in trace amounts alongside mRNA but it does no harm at the fractional doses in mRNA vaccine (micrograms). However, higher and repeat dosage (milligrams) of the same, as applied to other mRNA applications and treatments, can potentially have devastating consequences if we do not remove the dsRNA first. Currently, Pharma companies spend millions of dollars to remove dsRNA by employing multiple chromatography purification systems. Unfortunately, these processes add to the cost of production of single chromatography purifications and lead to substantial wastage of mRNA, thereby resulting in poor yields - the latter adding even more to the costs of production.\n\n### **Solution:**\n\nCisterna uses proprietary technologies to either remove a contaminant at its source or replace the source itself. To remove dsRNA, we use ribozymes (molecular scissors) to precisely cut the mRNA at its 3’ end. This assures not only 3’ homogeneity, but also eliminates dsRNA, which are primarily produced due to self-templated additions at the 3’ ends. Utilizing a PCR-like system to amplify the DNA template in large quantities eliminates the requirement for plasmid enrichment in bacteria, the prime source of endotoxin contamination. Additionally, doing away with plasmids completely means a further reduction in extraneous dsRNA arising from cryptic promoter sequences in the undigested non-template strand. These are just a few examples of Cisterna’s powerful technologies being used to achieve our goal of 10x higher quality mRNA for therapeutic application.\n\n### **Founder:**\n\nHari Bhaskaran completed his Ph.D. at UT-Austin under the mentorship of Dr. Rick Russell; his thesis was published in the prestigious journal Nature. He has held positions of increasing responsibilities in both academia and industry. His roles have led him to produce innovative mRNA construct designs for therapeutics, create scale-up techniques for manufacturing and improve process development for purifications and analytics. He is the author of several publications and industry patents.\n\n### **Asks:**\n\nIf you’d like to more about Cisterna’s high-quality mRNA, please feel free to reach out to [founders@cisternabx.com](mailto:founders@cisternabx.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/GgI-cisterna-biologics-high-quality-mrna-for-therapeutic-application", "votes": 23, "created_at": "2022-06-28T03:56:26.502Z" } ] }, { "id": 26675, "name": "Birch Biosciences", "slug": "birch-biosciences", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6d5ede074951640a2e67e11927c78affb1e31b81.png", "website": "http://www.birchbiosciences.com", "all_locations": "Portland, OR, USA", "long_description": "Birch Biosciences engineers enzymes for plastic recycling using synthetic biology and machine learning. Our enzymes function as high performance “molecular scissors” that efficiently break down plastic polymers into chemical building blocks that can be used to manufacture high quality recycled plastic products. Today, plastic manufacturing is unsustainable and a major driver of climate change. Birch Biosciences is developing an economical end-to-end plastic recycling process that reduces carbon emissions by 70% and enables a circular plastic economy.\r\n", "one_liner": "We recycle plastic using engineered enzymes", "team_size": 10, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Climate", "launched_at": 1656393851, "tags": [ "Machine Learning", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Climate", "ClimateTech" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Climate" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/birch-biosciences", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2022/birch-biosciences.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "Portland", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/birch-biosciences-llc", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/BirchBiosci", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/birch-biosciences", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6d5ede074951640a2e67e11927c78affb1e31b81.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 913224, "full_name": "Johan Kers", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Johan is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Birch Biosciences. He has spent the last 15 years programming bacteria and genetic circuits to produce novel therapeutic proteins and other natural products at leading companies including Absci and Ginkgo Bioworks. Johan is especially interested in solving major sustainability problems using biotechnology. He holds a PhD from Cornell University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "http://linkedin.com/in/johankers", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/77c9dbc7ddcfc0cea9d901a92e53475050f42ea4.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 64291, "title": "🌳 Birch Biosciences — Engineered Enzymes for Plastic Recycling 🌳", "tagline": "We recycle plastic using engineered enzymes", "body": "**The problem:**\n\nToday, plastic recycling doesn't work.  Less than 9% of plastic is recycled in the United States, a number unchanged over the past 15 years.  The current mechanical recycling process involves melting and reforming plastic at high temperatures, generally resulting in major greenhouse gas emissions while producing low quality plastic at high cost.  This is a major problem as consumers demand more sustainable plastic products, but brands are unable to meet this demand due to sustainability, quality, yield, and price issues with mechanically recycled plastic.  If we don’t develop a circular plastic economy, plastics will be responsible for 15% of global CO2 emissions by 2050.\n\n**The solution:**\n\nBirch Biosciences is engineering an enzyme-mediated process to recycle plastic. Our high performance enzymes work as “molecular scissors'' at low temperatures to break down plastic polymers into monomer “building blocks,” which can be re-polymerized into high quality recycled plastic products. Birch recycling technology will:\n\n* **Reduce** **carbon emissions** associated with plastic recycling by > 70%.\n* Generate recycled plastic of **equivalent** **quality** **to new plastic**.\n* Produce recycled plastic at **equal or lower cost** than mechanically recycled plastic.\n* Increase the variety of plastic products that can be **effectively recycled**\n\nBirch’s recycling process enables a true ‘circular’ plastic economy where plastic products are continuously recycled into the same plastic products, rather than being manufactured from oil or gas.  This is especially important as consumers, brands, and our planet demand more sustainable products.\n\n**Our technology focus:**\n\nEnzymes as “molecular scissors” are the centerpiece of our recycling technology. We discover and develop high performance enzymes using iterative machine learning and quantitative high-throughput screening of novel protein designs. Our technology stack enables design of robust enzymes for industrial scale plastic recycling using a fermentation-like bioprocess.\n\nWe’re currently focused on engineering enzymes for PET plastics (i.e., beverage bottles, polyester clothing) and polyurethane plastics (i.e., foam for furniture, bedding, insulation). In addition to YC, our technology development is supported by the US Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.\n\n**How you can help:**\n\nIf you or anyone in your network might be interested in learning more or helping out, we would love to chat.  We're especially interested in talking with:\n\n* Companies and brands that use PET plastics\n* Experts in the plastic manufacturing and recycling industry\n* Operators of recycling facilities\n* Nonprofits with an interest in sustainability and plastic recycling\n\nWe can be reached at [founders@birchbiosciences.com](mailto:founders@birchbiosciences.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Gix-birch-biosciences-engineered-enzymes-for-plastic-recycling", "votes": 246, "created_at": "2022-07-02T17:42:00.694Z" } ] }, { "id": 28205, "name": "Modulari-T", "slug": "modulari-t", "former_names": [ "Modulari-T Biosciences" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/cdfde836f1d168c7ec0299ab6b4daf90d112f929.png", "website": "https://modularit.bio", "all_locations": "Montreal, QC, Canada; San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Cell and gene therapy promises to one day cure any disease; Modulari-T’s Platform produces the tools to fulfill that promise.\r\n\r\nModulari-T has designed a new family of synthetic genes that can reprogram cells to better sense their environment and modify their behavior accordingly. This can be used to engineer immune cells to efficiently recognize and kill cancer cells or to create stem cells able to regenerate any tissue.\r\n\r\nModulari-T looks to expand its technology to reach every area of cell therapy and become the platform of reference for cell engineering.", "one_liner": "We teach your immune system to attack and cure cancer", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Therapeutics", "launched_at": 1675126815, "tags": [ "Gene Therapy", "Cell Therapy", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Oncology" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2023", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Therapeutics" ], "regions": [ "Canada", "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/modulari-t", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2023/modulari-t.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "Montreal", "country": "CA", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/modulari-t-bio/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/cdfde836f1d168c7ec0299ab6b4daf90d112f929.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1049972, "full_name": "David White", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "David is the CEO and cofounder of Modulari-T. His expertise spans multiple areas and he is driven by a passion for pushing the boundaries of technology.\n\nDuring his PhD he discovered how protein receptors form complex structures that allow them to alter cells’ behavior. He then took this knowledge and the novel technology that was developed to build Modulari-T.\n\nWhen he’s not thinking up a new way to engineer cells he can be spotted biking or running up a mountain.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-white-modulari-t/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/02ce0c5af1e07f18b7b09b99212309d6f1df723e.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1161771, "full_name": "Stephanie Mok", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and COO at Modulari-T. PhD in chemical engineering. Technical background in synthetic biology, advanced 3D cell culture systems, and biomaterials in the context of the cellular cancer microenvironment. Fascinated by the innovations cell-based therapies, food products, and the scale up of their manufacturing. Gave the unconference talk \"Lessons learned and mistakes made growing the world's hottest peppers\".", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmok/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/7e84b9438e87a1adf29d92d2525871a030ab8753.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 68886, "title": "Modulari-T 🧬 Unleash the full power of the immune system", "tagline": "We teach your immune system to attack and cure cancer.", "body": "# Modulari-T AWAY!\n\nHi YC, this is [@David](https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-white-modulari-t/) and [@Stephanie](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmok/) from [@Modulari-T](https://www.linkedin.com/company/modulari-t-bio/) launching!\n\n### **WHAT WE DO**\n\nModulari-T is a cell therapy company that can teach your immune system to attack and cure cancer.\n\n \n\nWe are a dynamic group of scientists bringing together protein engineering, synthetic biology, and immunology to create the world’s most powerful cell programming platform.\n\n \n\nBy introducing our optimized gene sequences inside immune cells, we can create treatments that are 2x potent as chemotherapy, but that avoids 90% of harmful side-effects.\n\n \n\nToday, cell therapy has a high failure rate and is difficult to produce, leaving 20M patients without hope. Modulari-T has the technology to fix this, bring hope to cancer patients, and supercharge the cell therapy market to grow beyond $50B by the end of the decade.\n\n \n\n### **HOW YOU CAN HELP**\n\nConnect us with people in the ecosystem! Do you know anyone working in cell therapy or oncology? We want to talk to them, to know about their pain points - academic, biotech/pharma or physicians.\n\n[We are hiring!](https://modulari-t.breezy.hr/) Are you a synthetic biologist or immunologist? Ready to join a new adventure? Become part of the Modulari-T squad (Mod Squad!) in beautiful Montreal!\n\n### **THE SCIENCE**:\n\nWe have built a platform to produce a new type of receptor, the Modular Actuation Receptor Complex or MARC, that mimics the modular architecture of immune receptors. These receptors can be used to reprogram immune cells to recognize cancer antigens and direct an immune response against tumor cells. Compared to CAR-T cells, MARCs have twice the tumor clearing power and avoid causing immune exhaustion to ensure a long lasting response.\n\n![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/ItKO7egaIuynMGKcNjoT2YMqkANZ6E6oNxe5RyIisJ47KOaWhchZU9NpFHXfqkGu_EIB6--huJ4KOnT_5IqHMQut2czid5T8krpDXcZ3iSYTSEL9y2tyAg2IfOYSLic_Uaiz7dOJbcH6dELlc-MPEA)\n\nThe MARC’s unique architecture allows us to link any extracellular cue with the required signalling outputs across different pathways to achieve therapeutic success.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=68886&key=user_uploads/1161771/abbed6b1-a7be-43e4-821c-8daa69fff47a)\n\nOncology is only the first step; the MARC platform is applicable to autoimmunity, neurology, regenerative medicine and more!\n\n### **HOW WE CAN HELP YOU**\n\nAre you a Cell Therapy company? Let us show you how Modulari-T’s MARC platform can help your development. Our platform can do anything but we can’t do everything alone. That’s why we want to partner with you and bring hope to as many patients as we can.\n\n### Thank you!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=68886&key=user_uploads/1161771/773beb5d-3dbb-4905-8b5e-c5e453a33517)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Hv4-modulari-t-unleash-the-full-power-of-the-immune-system", "votes": 863, "created_at": "2023-01-31T18:07:52.539Z" } ] }, { "id": 28425, "name": "Pando Bioscience", "slug": "pando-bioscience", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/fcb2bf6569db61c3592824679114d563e4d1438c.png", "website": "https://pando.bio/", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "Pando is an AI-driven synthetic biology company revolutionizing enzyme engineering for the pharmaceutical industry. Our ultra-high-throughput screening platform screens 1000-fold more enzymes 75% faster and 80% cheaper than traditional methods. This empowers our generative AI to efficiently optimize enzymes across multiple properties, delivering high-performing, tailored enzymes that reduce costs and enhance efficiency.", "one_liner": "Gen-AI Designed Enzymes for Pharmaceutical Innovation", "team_size": 5, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Industrial Bio", "launched_at": 1675971158, "tags": [ "Generative AI", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Diagnostics" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2023", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Industrial Bio" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pando-bioscience", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2023/pando-bioscience.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/pando-bioscience", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/fcb2bf6569db61c3592824679114d563e4d1438c.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/8b92140b18fdff52e4594f4d25ba72725c324b20.png" ], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 875330, "full_name": "Will Cao", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Will Cao is the co-founder and CEO of Pando Bioscience. During her Ph.D., Will changed her major from engineering machines to engineering bacteria (yes, making genetic modifications to bacteria, so they can produce things that they can't before). She has published first-author papers in Cell and Nature Biotechnology. In her spare time, she is a personal trainer and a kayak and scuba diving enthusiast.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/willcao/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/cao_will", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/b9b092e4e1e2e653227fafd945625cb3359daf1d.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 69169, "title": "Pando Bioscience: Empowering Pharma with AI-Optimized Enzymes", "tagline": "Unlocking the full potential of enzymes to drive down costs and boost productivity in pharma", "body": "Pando is an AI-driven synthetic biology company revolutionizing enzyme engineering for pharma. Our ultra-high-throughput screening platform screens 1000 times more enzymes, 75% faster, and 80% cheaper than traditional methods. This empowers our generative AI to optimize enzymes across multiple properties, delivering high-performing, tailored enzymes that cut costs and enhance efficiency.\n\n### The Problem\n\nEnzymes play a crucial role in driving market growth and profitability in the pharmaceutical industries. Inefficient or underutilized enzymes can lead to significant financial losses and missed opportunities. Therefore, developing optimized enzymes that possess a balance of key properties becomes a top priority but remains challenging and time-consuming.\n\n### Our Solution\n\nOur AI model designs enzymes with specific mutations that enhance multiple properties simultaneously. These AI-generated enzymes are tested using our unique ultra-high-throughput one-pot screening platform. This platform converts diverse biological signals into abundant and quantifiable data under various conditions. By integrating AI design with advanced screening, we’ve reduced the design-build-test-learn cycle to just one month. We efficiently evaluate enzyme performance across different criteria tackling the challenge of multi-property optimization.\n\nAt Pando, we help pharma companies improve existing enzymes and discover new ones, cutting costs and boosting productivity. We are also developing our own proprietary enzyme assets.\n\n### Our Team\n\nWe are experts in the field. @Will joined the synthetic biology unicorn Ginkgo Bioworks as an early employee. @Yang spent 6 years at Harvard Medical School before joining Ginkgo. AI-guided enzyme engineering is in our wheelhouse.\n\n### Want to be part of it?\n\nIf you are from a **pharma, diagnostic, or biotech company** and are interested in taking enzyme engineering to the next level, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at [founders@pando.bio](mailto:founders@pando.bio).\n\nThank you!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=69169&key=user_uploads/875330/303f90f4-0887-4557-92b3-47f2bd20a39f)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Hzd-pando-bioscience-empowering-pharma-with-ai-optimized-enzymes", "votes": 46, "created_at": "2023-02-09T18:57:43.819Z" } ] }, { "id": 28794, "name": "Ohmic Biosciences", "slug": "ohmic-biosciences", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5b68cb6a90af9c37176d63232ab7f6372925388d.png", "website": "https://ohmicbiosciences.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Pests and pathogens cost the world hundreds of billions of dollars every year. Existing technologies like agrochemicals are no longer working. Ohmic Biosciences uses protein engineering to design resistance genes for crops that are robust to pathogen evolution.", "one_liner": "Genetically engineering plants for disease resistance.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Agriculture", "launched_at": 1689702500, "tags": [ "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Climate", "Agriculture", "Genetic Engineering" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2023", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Agriculture" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ohmic-biosciences", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2023/ohmic-biosciences.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/ohmic-biosciences", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5b68cb6a90af9c37176d63232ab7f6372925388d.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1293563, "full_name": "PJ Steiner", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I'm a protein engineer, synthetic biologist, and computer scientist. I studied computer science at MIT (SB/MEng) and then synthetic biology at Cambridge (PhD) and UCSD (postdoc). After two years as a scientist at Bolt Threads engineering yeast for protein production, I moved to the University of Colorado Boulder to work on a DARPA project using protein engineering to turn plants into chemical biosensors. My co-founder Matt and I founded Ohmic to make plants resistant to disease.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/pjsteiner", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ffbbe4cdd117cdb5d1833d399a417f33612afa78.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1350610, "full_name": "Matthew Bedewitz", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I'm a plant biochemist with experience in protein engineering, genetics and analytical chemistry. I studied Horticulture Science (BS), and then Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology (PhD) at Michigan State where I characterized enzymes in tropane alkaloid production for nerve agent antidotes and stimulants (including cocaine). That work led me to a DARPA protein engineering project where I met my cofounder, PJ, and we decided to use our skills to tackle crop disease resistance.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/matthew-bedewitz-915848239", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8a7b8411e8a6c8a66af0dd9bada25c96e6f74894.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 73380, "title": "Ohmic Biosciences: Genetically engineering disease-resistant plants", "tagline": "We use protein engineering to create resistance traits for any disease in any plant.", "body": "**TL;DR:** Ohmic Biosciences genetically engineers plants to make them resistant to disease. Our first product is a soybean resistant to a parasite that causes over $1.5B of yearly damage in the US alone.\n\n**The Problem**\n\nPlant diseases cost the world more than $200B every year. Climate change and trade globalization are accelerating the problem, but existing solutions are failing. Today, crop diseases are controlled in two ways:\n\nAgrochemicals are slow and expensive to commercialize. Once pathogens evolve resistance to them, they are useless. Many are being taken off the market and it is increasingly difficult to get new products approved.\n\nGenetic resistance traits are a better solution - no spraying - but are plagued by a basic tradeoff: they usually either work really well but are easy for pathogens to evolve around, or are robust to pathogen evolution but don't work so well.\n\nThis comes down to a basic limitation of plant breeding and biotechnology as practiced today: both amount to hoping the gene you want already exists in nature and embarking on a fishing expedition to find it. Sometimes that works, but there's no reason to believe that genes useful for industrial agriculture will have evolved naturally.\n\n**The Solution**\n\nOhmic Biosciences is taking a different approach. We are protein engineers. We know what traits we want; instead of hoping nature already made them, we're engineering them ourselves.\n\nPlant pathogens have a difficult job. To even start infecting a plant they need to breach the plant's tough cell wall and disable its innate immune system. They do all of this by secreting a whole suite of effector proteins that attack the plant in various ways. We engineer proteins that inhibit those effectors, effectively defanging plant diseases.\n\nWe're starting by focusing on soybean cyst nematode (SCN), a tiny parasitic worm that has completely infested the US and causes >$1.5B in yield loss every year. That number is probably an underestimate, because SCN is an insidious root parasite that rarely causes visible above-ground symptoms - just yield loss.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=73380&key=user_uploads/1293563/79777d2d-a15c-4669-9d68-5cf2a36c8fcf)\n\n_Above: soybean cyst nematode infection on soybean roots._\n\n**About Us**\n\nWe met as postdocs at the University of Colorado Boulder where we worked together for 2.5 years on [**engineering plant hormone receptors**](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-022-01364-5) into biosensors. Before that, PJ worked in CS and synthetic biology and Matt worked in plant genetics and biochemistry.\n\n**Ask**\n\nPlease get in touch if you or anyone you know is interested in protein engineering for agriculture! Find us on LinkedIn [here.](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ohmic-biosciences/)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/J5Y-ohmic-biosciences-genetically-engineering-disease-resistant-plants", "votes": 43, "created_at": "2023-07-28T19:41:51.431Z" } ] }, { "id": 29305, "name": "SynsoryBio", "slug": "synsorybio", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e2b7538a15335c79e864ff7431e761c3feca0797.png", "website": "https://www.synsorybio.com/", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "SynsoryBio is creating next generation, protein therapeutics that sense where they are in the body and only activate at diseased tissue. This technology platform has the potential to expand the therapeutic window of highly potent drugs and apply to many diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders.", "one_liner": "\"If-then\" conditional logic for protein drugs", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Therapeutics", "launched_at": 1707422039, "tags": [ "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Therapeutics", "Oncology" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Therapeutics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/synsorybio", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2024/synsorybio.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/synsorybio/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e2b7538a15335c79e864ff7431e761c3feca0797.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1336498, "full_name": "Elliot Tague", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I am a PhD and inventor in the fields of synthetic biology and protein engineering. I got my PhD from Boston University, spent time as a visiting graduate student in George Church's lab at Harvard, and worked in various biotech startups", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/elliot-tague", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/862fd5995470be60ee9592f62023e7535f5ba456.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1609260, "full_name": "Nathan Tague", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I’m a co-founder of SynsoryBio, where we are creating therapeutics that sense-and-respond to disease. I have a background in synthetic biology and protein engineering with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/nathan-tague-533019198", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/64f7893e259c04691fa3d527943ce549ccc78d95.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 78311, "title": "SynsoryBio: Therapeutics that sense-and-respond to disease", "tagline": "Our immune system acts locally to combat disease, why don’t our medicines?", "body": "**TL;DR**\n\nAt SynsoryBio, we engineer \"_if-then_\" conditional logic into protein medicines, meaning only _if_ the protein drug senses a disease marker, _then_ it turns on. We are applying this technology to clinically tested, but highly toxic cancer immunotherapies to make them safer and more effective. \n\n**Who we are/Team:**\n\nSynsoryBio was founded by brother scientists, [Elliot](https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-tague/) and [Nathan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-tague-533019198/), who both hold PhDs in biomedical engineering. The founders gained expertise in synthetic biology at Boston University, Harvard Medical School, and industrial biotech, where they authored numerous high-impact journal publications and are inventors on several patent filings. SynsoryBio harnesses this expertise to create next-generation therapeutics that understand where they are in the body and only act at the site of disease. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78311&key=user_uploads/1336498/724512c9-7cee-4c6b-ba4f-ea2550ef57d9)\n\n**The Problem:**\n\nThe most potent therapeutics suffer from safety issues and dose limitations, impeding their development and overall efficacy. This isn’t surprising because most therapeutics are delivered systemically and are active throughout the body even though the underlying disease is localized to a certain tissue. For example, immunotherapies to treat cancer show great promise but usually exhibit dose limitations, especially in combination, which prevents the development of potent immune stimulators and/or mitigates clinical efficacy.\n\n \n\n**The Synsory Solution:**\n\nWe are developing next-generation protein therapeutics that have synthetic sensing functions so that they know where they are in the body and only act at disease tissue. Our approach is highly flexible, allowing us to design protein therapeutics that conditionally activate upon sensing virtually any specified biomolecule.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78311&key=user_uploads/1336498/66febfad-2442-4c03-be04-050f4149b862)\n\n**Our ask:**\n\n\\-If you know any immunologists or oncologists, we would love to connect with them!\n\n\\-Interested in partnering? Please reach out!\n\n Connect with us, info@synsorybio.com", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/KN5-synsorybio-therapeutics-that-sense-and-respond-to-disease", "votes": 31, "created_at": "2024-02-09T15:34:58.143Z" } ] }, { "id": 29406, "name": "ACX", "slug": "acx", "former_names": [ "AcX Therapeutics", "AcX" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9bb37e7a5bced1e654bfc08df7f21868e28bd64c.png", "website": "https://www.acxtherapeutics.com/", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "ACX is developing a new standard for precision agriculture technologies by providing sustainable, eco-friendly alternatives to chemical pesticides. Our mission is to transform agriculture through sustainable biological crop protection that increases yields while safeguarding the environment, farmers, and consumers.\r\n", "one_liner": "Next-generation biocides for sustainable agriculture at scale", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Industrial Bio", "launched_at": 1721937425, "tags": [ "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Healthcare", "Agriculture", "Drug discovery" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Industrial Bio" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/acx", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/acx.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "New York City", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/acxtherapeutics/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9bb37e7a5bced1e654bfc08df7f21868e28bd64c.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1676544, "full_name": "Emmanouela Petsolari", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Emmanouela is the Co-Founder & CEO of ACX and PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of Cambridge. Previously, she held several research positions working in immunology, cancer, malaria vaccine development and viral drug discovery (in institutes like Barts Cancer Institute CRUK, Cambridge University, King’s College London, Institute Curie France and Imperial College London). ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/emmanouelapetsolari", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fe0981d815a5985e4455e8444899976e07cac408.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1676577, "full_name": "Melina Petsolari", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Melina is the Co-founder & CTO of ACX and PhD in Computer Science from King's College London. Previously, she held several research positions spanning digital health, robotics, technology-enable interventions, HCAI and NLP (in institutes like Cambridge University, King’s College London, National Health Service (NHS) in England and Francis Crick Institute).", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/melina-petsolari-a03915298", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/df48f52856a7187592c6c728a6e25be063a80e70.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 82452, "title": "🧬🦠 ACX – Next-generation biocides for sustainable agriculture at scale", "tagline": "ACX is developing a new standard for precision agriculture technologies by providing sustainable, eco-friendly alternatives to chemical pesticides.", "body": "Hi everyone,\n\nWe are [**ACX**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/acxtherapeutics/)! We’re two PhD’s in Biochemistry/Biophysics and Computer Science from the University of Cambridge and King’s College London developing a new type of therapy with applications in animal farming and agriculture. We have discovered a new molecular weapon to first provide more efficacious pest control measures.\n\n### **Team:**\n\n👩🏼‍🔬[**Emmanouela Petsolari**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanouelapetsolari/) – Molecular Geneticist and Biochemist with 8 years of research experience in drug discovery and development (from leukemia, ovarian, and breast cancer as well as viral and bacterial infections).\n\n👩🏼‍🔬 [**Melina Petsolari**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/melina-petsolari-a03915298/)  – Computer Scientist and Designer with extensive experience in HCI, AI, and healthcare developing hardware and software for applications in digital health, biotech, and privacy.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82452&key=user_uploads/1676544/c167d705-6bb6-44bf-86be-5eec9824edc3)\n\n# **❌ Problem:**\n\nThere is more disease impacting our livestock and crops than ever before - and this comes at a time when the human population is also exploding.\n\n1. Manure from livestock and extensive use of limited therapeutics for growth promotion and disease prevention in animal breeding as well as overuse of pesticides in crops\n\n ●  One billion kilos of chemicals are used annually to combat crop pests\n2. Spread of pathogenic agents that have adapted in previously used medications\n3. Failure of commonly used pesticides and insecticides has been documented in nearly 1000 distinct pest species worldwide\n\n ●  This leads each year to the world’s food supply facing an up to 30% loss due to insect pests alone, and this number is continuously increasing\n\n# ✅ **Our Solution:**\n\nExisting therapeutics are either no longer effective or have never worked to the extent necessary for achieving positive outcomes. We have discovered a common biological pathway that can be targeted across pathogenic species.\n\n### ✅ ✅ **Specifics:**\n\n1. We have _in vitro_ validation data of our therapeutic showing high inhibition and specificity in the cell line\n2. We are initially focusing on animal health and crop production due to the experimental validation of our therapeutic's effectiveness on a shared pathogen\n3. We are developing drug delivery systems that minimize toxicity and immunogenicity while providing precise spatiotemporal control for targeted drug release\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82452&key=user_uploads/1676544/1f3bc0eb-72b6-4c8b-80d3-d3172a311f1f)\n\nIllustration of our solution. Nanoparticles carrying the killer compound (orange) infiltrate the target cell like a Trojan horse and activate drug release upon targeting our newly discovered pathway.\n\n### 💡**Key facts about our solution:**\n\n➔   High killing efficacy\n\n➔   Designed to specifically target pathogenic cells while preserving the surrounding healthy cells and ensuring no toxicity or adverse side effects\n\n➔   Highly suitable to become a platform solution (i.e., therapeutic development pipeline expanded to multiple disease areas and organisms)\n\n➔   Scalable, stable, and easy to manufacture\n\n### \n\n# 👋**Our Asks:**\n\n* Share this post with your network and help spread the word!\n* If you’re as excited as we are about this novel approach, email us to learn more about it at [emmanouela@acxtherapeutics.com](mailto:emmanouela@acxtherapeutics.com)\n\n### ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LRs-acx-next-generation-biocides-for-sustainable-agriculture-at-scale", "votes": 33, "created_at": "2024-07-25T21:52:31.810Z" } ] }, { "id": 29412, "name": "Ligo Biosciences", "slug": "ligo-biosciences", "former_names": [ "Ligo", "Ligo Bio" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bd381079ddb420940e9b57512009e6b5bc73e27a.png", "website": "https://www.ligo.bio", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We are building the next generation of deep-learning models for enzyme design to slash the cost of chemical manufacturing. The $6 trillion chemical industry is flawed: It produces 20% of industrial greenhouse gases, and is responsible for 15% of global energy usage. \r\n\r\nEnzymes offer a far more sustainable alternative to chemical synthesis and have already revolutionised how a select few chemicals are produced. The problem is each enzyme takes years of trial and error to develop. Our enzyme models learn the principles of catalysis, allowing us to design enzymes for each reaction, in days not years. \r\n", "one_liner": "Enzyme design models.", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Industrial Bio", "launched_at": 1723173017, "tags": [ "Deep Learning", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Climate", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Industrial Bio" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ligo-biosciences", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/ligo-biosciences.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/ligo-biosciences/about/?viewAsMember=true", "x_url": "https://x.com/ArdaGoreci/status/1830744265007480934", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/Ligo-Biosciences/AlphaFold3", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bd381079ddb420940e9b57512009e6b5bc73e27a.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1373049, "full_name": "Edward Harris", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Deep learning for enzyme design!", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/edward-harris-537837188", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/6d02ed151fb6828f9e341fd4a12eae59b64b4168.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1451202, "full_name": "Emily Egerton-Warburton", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I'm a biochemist from Oxford University with experience in the intensive environment of biotech startups, working on everything from bacterial biofuel production to vaccine design. Now focused on designing enzymes to make the chemical industry more sustainable. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/emily-egerton-warburton-a70121211", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4fd1ca272276b79309f71725f9ac77debe3b8fa4.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1447270, "full_name": "Arda Goreci", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Ligo (S24). I studied Cell and Systems Biology at Oxford where I became a Google Cloud Research Innovator for my work in computational biology. Interested in deep learning, scaling laws, geometric DL, biomolecular design. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/arda-g-a26506118", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f5e0fc43c349e97c738e48417637b35bb6172b26.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Show HN: An open-source implementation of AlphaFold3 | Hacker News", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41448439", "date": "Sep 20, 2024" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 83137, "title": "Ligo Biosciences - Generative enzyme design for the chemical industry", "tagline": "Next generation deep-learning enzyme models for cheaper and sustainable chemical manufacturing. ", "body": "**Tl;dr:**\n\n* [Ligo](https://www.ligo.bio/) is using deep learning to design **novel enzymes** to make **chemical manufacturing** cheaper and more sustainable.\n* The three founders met in a synbio lab at **Oxford University** where they decided to take on the **$6 trillion chemicals industry.**\n* Sign up for our [**waitlist**](https://foil-barometer-dc9.notion.site/Ligo-Biosciences-Technical-Waitlist-63a62e2b0f4a4b8dbaa31ce51b572d09?pvs=74) (Big news soon!)\n\n# **The Team:**\n\nHey - we are Ed, Emily, and Arda! We are building Ligo.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83137&key=user_uploads/1373049/1cde2313-c3fb-4cc4-a836-3dd991f69ae9)\n\n👨🏻‍⚕️CEO, [**Ed**](https://linkedin.com/in/edward-harris-537837188) — Ed studied **CS at Princeton** before transferring to **Oxford Medical School,** where he worked across three top synthetic biology labs. Ed bootstrapped his first startup at 19 in the food markets of Guadalajara, Mexico, and took it to **$1M in annual revenue.**\n\n👩‍🔬CSO, [**Emily**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-egerton-warburton-a70121211/) — Emily is a top **biochemist** from **Oxford University** who honed her wet lab skills in the intensive environment of biotech startups. Working on everything from bacterial **biofuel** production to **vaccine design**, Emily is **happiest with a pipette in hand**!\n\n👨‍💻CTO, [**Arda**](https://linkedin.com/in/arda-g-a26506118) — Arda studied **cell and systems biology** at **Oxford,** where he became a **Google Cloud Research Innovator** for his work in computational biology. Arda’s obsession with deep learning for biomolecular design began when the original AlphaFold paper was released.\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n## ❌ **The problem**:\n\n**(1) The $6 trillion chemicals industry is flawed:**\n\n* This industry produces **_20% of industrial greenhouse gases_** and is responsible for **_15% of global energy usage_.**\n* Traditional chemical manufacturing relies on hazardous materials and produces **_huge amounts of waste,_** resulting in **high costs.**\n* **You** unknowingly contribute to this problem by personally using **\\~160 of these chemicals daily.**\n\n**(2) Enzymes offer an amazing solution, but they are hard to develop**\n\n* Enzymes are biological catalysts. They accelerate reactions at mild temperatures and pressures, making chemical manufacturing **cheaper, faster, and more sustainable.**\n* **Major pharmaceutical companies** already use enzymes for manufacturing a limited number of drugs but developing them costs **tens of millions of dollars** and takes **multiple years.**\n* Current enzyme engineering approaches are **limited** because they must start from an enzyme that already exists.\n* No models currently understand the principles of catalysis, resulting in a narrow range of possible reactions that can be catalysed.\n\n## ✅ **Our Solution: Enzymes Designed From Scratch**\n\n* We are building **foundational enzyme design models** that learn from huge amounts of data to **understand the principles of catalysis.**\n* The model **generates structures capable of catalysing reactions** directly from transition state models, meaning we will **expand the number of reactions that can feasibly be accelerated** using enzymes.\n* These enzymes can catalyse reactions to **synthesise high-value chemicals** used in the pharmaceutical, agriculture, and consumer goods industries.\n\n[Our Diffusion Model](https://youtu.be/_V758AisYS8)\n\n# **Partnerships:**\n\nWe are happy to announce two key partnerships.\n\n* [**Basecamp Research**](https://www.basecamp-research.com) is on track to have **1000x more sequence diversity than public resources** - We are collaborating to use their data to improve our soon-to-be-released OpenSource model (sign up [here](https://foil-barometer-dc9.notion.site/Ligo-Biosciences-Technical-Waitlist-63a62e2b0f4a4b8dbaa31ce51b572d09?pvs=74)!).\n* [**Adaptyv Bio**](https://www.adaptyvbio.com) is building a next-generation protein foundry. Their engineers, Liza and Igor, are helping to build the **data pipeline for OpenSource model** using their state-of-the-art **bioinformatics tool, ProteinFlow.**\n\n# **We’d Love Your Help**❤️\n\n* Sign up for our [waitlist](https://foil-barometer-dc9.notion.site/Ligo-Biosciences-Technical-Waitlist-63a62e2b0f4a4b8dbaa31ce51b572d09?pvs=74) (Big news soon!)\n* We’d love intros to:\n * Small chemical companies in pharmaceuticals, fragrances, food&drink, detergents\n * Big Pharma and Agricultural chemical companies\n * **Any** **other biotech** companies! Email us [ed@ligo.bio](mailto:ed@ligo.bio)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Lcv-ligo-biosciences-generative-enzyme-design-for-the-chemical-industry", "votes": 470, "created_at": "2024-08-16T21:11:49.384Z" } ] }, { "id": 29485, "name": "Granza Bio", "slug": "granza-bio", "former_names": [ "Zyme Therapeutics" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e4fe5f43800f16c0ca16303f58b955037e3f2bc1.png", "website": "https://www.granzabio.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Granza Bio is developing programmable therapeutics for the immune system. Our platform is built on the foundational discovery of immune “superkiller” attack particles — the natural ammunition used by cytotoxic immune cells to deliver potent, localized killing. By re-arming exhausted immune cells with newly programmed ammunition, Granza restores and enhances immune function. This approach enables a new class of treatments with the potential to transform diseases ranging from cancer to autoimmunity. ", "one_liner": "Building programmable therapeutics for the immune system", "team_size": 8, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Therapeutics", "launched_at": 1709082658, "tags": [ "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Healthcare", "Therapeutics", "Oncology" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Therapeutics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/granza-bio", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2024/granza-bio.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/101140973/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/GranzaBio", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e4fe5f43800f16c0ca16303f58b955037e3f2bc1.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/951f3c1e19296f2e20fadafd3714fde2998a701f.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1718918, "full_name": "Ashwin Nandakumar", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Ashwin completed his PhD (DPhil) in Oncology at the University of Oxford. After completing his PhD, he began working as a Cancer Research UK post-doctoral researcher at Oxford University and also at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London. He also brings experience setting up oncology clinical trials and working in oncology start-ups. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/ashwin-nandakumar-menon", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/Menon_Ashwin", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/abf1515406e6713ee0ab505431bf72dd815baad6.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1720525, "full_name": "Ashwin Jainarayanan", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Granza Bio, DPhil (PhD) in Interdisciplinary Bioscience - University of Oxford\n\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/jainarayananak", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d8cf072b7b583aa501ae03f0113abf686b2e0b73.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Granza Bio grabs $7M seed from Felicis and YC to advance delivery of cancer treatments | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/03/granza-bio-grabs-7m-seed-from-felicis-and-yc-to-advance-delivery-of-cancer-treatments/", "date": "Jul 03, 2024" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 78838, "title": "🎯🦠 Granza Bio – Cancer targeting attack particles derived from our body’s immune system", "tagline": "We engineer \"attack particles\" that selectively target and kill cancer cells, eliminating unwanted side effects and toxicity.", "body": "**Tl;dr:** We are [Granza Bio](https://www.linkedin.com/company/granza-bio-yc-w24/), two PhD graduates in Oncology and Immunology from the University of Oxford on a mission to develop personalised and targeted cancer treatments. We are working on a new weapon in our immune system’s arsenal – “[**attack particles**](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aay9207)”. We are turning this concept into a therapeutic product that can eliminate any cancer without harming the surrounding healthy cells, preventing adverse side effects.\n\nHey everyone, we are (Ashwin)²\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78838&key=user_uploads/1718918/c608a07f-d480-40c7-bb19-16fc620b9666)\n\n# **Team**\n\n🧑🏾[Ashwin Jainarayanan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jainarayananak/) – Clarendon Scholar and Synthetic Immunologist with extensive research experience on attack particles derived from immune cells.\n\n 🧑🏾[Ashwin Nandakumar](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashwin-nandakumar-menon/) – Cancer biologist specializing in immuno-oncology, who has previously set up clinical trials and brings extensive Oncology start-up experience.\n\n👨🏻‍🔬 [Mike Dustin](https://www.kennedy.ox.ac.uk/team/michael-dustin) – Professor of Molecular Immunology at the University of Oxford. Widely recognised for his work on immunological synapses and discovered attack particles.\n\n# **❌ Problem:**\n\n\\~50% of cancer patients receive treatments that are (1) ineffective and (2) lead to unwanted and avoidable side effects.\n\n**(1) _High mortality rates:_** Ineffective treatments lead to cancer relapse and ultimately, increased likelihood of dying from cancer. Five-year survival rates are lower than 5% for patients with late-stage cancers including lung, pancreas, and brain cancer.\n\n**(2) _Toxicity and adverse side effects_**: While emerging treatments such as immunotherapy and CAR-T cell therapy are effective in some patients, they also impact their healthy tissues. This causes high toxicity and adverse side effects.\n\n# **✅ Solution: Granza Bio’s cancer-targeting attack particles**\n\nWe have identified **attack particles** ⚡: a powerful suite of weapons in our immune system’s arsenal. These attack particles carry proteins like **_granzymes_** and **_perforins_** that instantly kill cancer cells.\n\n[Watch how it works!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5IPz1YaAiE&ab_channel=AshwinMenon)\n\n# **📋 Factfile: Granza Bio’s attack particles**\n\n* **💀 High cancer-killing efficacy** in brain, ovarian, lung, and skin cancers.\n* ⚙ Engineered to target **only the cancer cells**, leaving the surrounding healthy cells untouched, meaning no toxicity or adverse side effects.\n* 🧠 Capable of targeting **brain cancers** by crossing the blood-brain barrier.\n* **🎯** Perfectly suited to a **platform approach** meaning we can use attack particles to target a great range of diseases including cancers, autoimmune diseases, and infections.\n* 🏭 **Highly stable** and easy to manufacture.\n\n**Lock & Key method – attack particle targeting cancer**\n\n# \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78838&key=user_uploads/1718918/0fcc26f3-2645-4d78-aee9-8287c2e707c2)\n\n# **🙏 Our Asks:**\n\n* Share this post with your network and help spread the word!\n* If you’re as excited as we are about this novel approach to eradicating cancer and would like to learn more about what we’re doing, email us at [founders@granzabio.com](mailto:founders@granzabio.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/KVa-granza-bio-cancer-targeting-attack-particles-derived-from-our-body-s-immune-system", "votes": 762, "created_at": "2024-02-28T01:19:33.419Z" } ] }, { "id": 29527, "name": "ParcelBio", "slug": "parcelbio", "former_names": [ "Parcel Therapuetics", "Parcel Therapeutics" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/74f762bd0f8856c1dbe4d716afa6585e44f03870.png", "website": "https://parcelbio.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "ParcelBio is engineering a new class of mRNA medicines designed to deliver unprecedented potency and durability. Its proprietary APEXm™ platform uses novel RNA domains to enhance protein expression and extend activity, enabling therapies that reach the thresholds required for meaningful, and potentially curative, clinical outcomes. The company is advancing programs in autoimmune disease, oncology, and encoded protein therapeutics.", "one_liner": "Elevated mRNA for transformative medicines.", "team_size": 6, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Therapeutics", "launched_at": 1707343020, "tags": [ "Gene Therapy", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Therapeutics", "Drug discovery" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Therapeutics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/parcelbio", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2024/parcelbio.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/parcelbio", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/74f762bd0f8856c1dbe4d716afa6585e44f03870.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1677906, "full_name": "David Weinberg", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "David is the co-founder and CEO of ParcelBio. He was previously VP of RNA Platform at Orbital Therapeutics / Circ Bio, where he led the development of a circular RNA therapeutics platform. Before that, he was Sr. Director of Molecular Research at Freenome, where he built the multiomics diagnostics platform that enabled a blood test for the early detection of cancer​. David obtained his PhD from MIT, was a UCSF Faculty Fellow, and has been honored with Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ and an NIH DP5 Award.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/david-e-weinberg", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a22ff6d56783a39898b76e5628fcfd0a63b70433.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1032558, "full_name": "Chris Carlson", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Chris is the co-founder and CSO of ParcelBio. He was previously a scientist at Orbital Therapeutics, where he was the primary contributor on multiple patents regarding stabilization of therapeutic RNAs. Chris obtained his PhD from UCSF where he studied RNA packaging and protection in viruses.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/christopher-carlson-", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f1a5fdc13e87dbfa7a513e72af5baaaf8491bd74.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 29694, "name": "AminoAnalytica", "slug": "aminoanalytica", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f7d5463656052d09bd1bc697531992af867d844c.png", "website": "https://www.aminoanalytica.com", "all_locations": "London, England, United Kingdom", "long_description": "We design point-of-care diagnostics for emerging biological threats - in days, not 12+ months.", "one_liner": "The AI scientist for always-on biodefense", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Diagnostics", "launched_at": 1715962434, "tags": [ "Nanosensors", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Diagnostics" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Diagnostics" ], "regions": [ "United Kingdom", "Europe", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/aminoanalytica", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/aminoanalytica.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "London", "country": "GB", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/aminoanalytica/", "x_url": "https://x.com/aminoanalytica", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f7d5463656052d09bd1bc697531992af867d844c.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1754946, "full_name": "Abhi Rajendran", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Ex-Mercedes Formula 1 engineer and computational biologist working to fight emerging biological threats", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/abhirajen", "x_url": "https://x.com/amino_abhi", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/35c9daa80919f9ffbb985a3ae786e3c39a8cc183.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1754481, "full_name": "Adam Wu", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Building the smartest protein engineer in the world.\n\nShameless plug: check out 'adwuu' on spotify for a good time", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/akhwu", "x_url": "https://x.com/adaminoacid", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/6da79f1592a746e918638e3b0d0ef923773e7594.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 92017, "title": "Amina: The Agentic Protein Engineer", "tagline": "Design, simulate, and test your proteins 100x faster with our no-code platform for protein engineering!", "body": "**👋 Hey YC! We're Abhi and Adam from AminoAnalytica.**\n\n**Amina is the first AI agent for end-to-end protein engineering** – instead of wrestling with hundreds of fragmented tools, scientists can now design protein therapeutics through simple conversation.\n\n## **🎬 Trailer**\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Pd9BJcbQA\n\n## **🧬 The Problem with Programmable Biology**\n\nThe 2024 Nobel Prize for Chemistry went to AlphaFold - proving we can predict and design proteins like software. These biological machines could solve climate change, cure diseases, and manufacture anything we need.\n\nBut here's the reality: **hundreds of new computational biology tools launch every week.** Even expert researchers stick to the same old methods they know, missing breakthrough tools that could accelerate their work by months or years.\n\n**Meet Dave, your friendly neighborhood protein engineer** 👨‍🔬\n\nDave is designing a cancer therapeutic, but his current workflow is broken:\n\n* **Inaccessible tools** → most have no UI, require specific hardware, must be built from source\n* **Fragmented ecosystem** → tools don't work together, requiring pages of glue code\n* **Constant obsolescence** → by the time he masters one tool, three better ones have launched\n\nThe result? **Scientists spend more time debugging code than designing life-saving therapeutics.**\n\n## **🚀 Our Solution**\n\n**What if you could just describe what you want in plain English?**\n\nInstead of wrestling with complex pipelines and staying up-to-date with every new tool, you simply tell Amina what protein you need and why.\n\n**Dave before Amina:**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=92017&key=user_uploads/1754946/ad201bdd-6ed8-4b33-bb1f-fd8ca58f5262)\n\n**Dave with Amina:**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=92017&key=user_uploads/1754946/3657d135-74af-4ed9-b261-394f14fe42a5)\n\n## **🔬 What Makes Amina Different**\n\nThis isn't just model hosting. Amina is trained on both scientific literature and our proprietary experience from engineering thousands of proteins for customers - it knows which tools to use when, how to chain them together, and how to interpret results. It's like having our entire computational team's expertise distilled into a single agent.\n\nWith our no-code interface, 50+ specialized tools work together seamlessly. Amina catches potential issues, suggests optimizations, and explains results in plain English.\n\n## **🎯 Our Vision**\n\n**Our ultimate goal is for Amina to design proteins autonomously** - think JARVIS, but dedicated to discovering breakthrough therapeutics. For now, it's like having an extra bioinformatician on your team that needs less care and attention than your cell cultures.\n\n## **🙏 Our Ask**\n\n**If you work in biotech, pharma, or have an interest in protein engineering** - we'd love your feedback on Amina.\n\n**Try it for free at [aminoanalytica.com](http://aminoanalytica.com)** - no setup required, start designing in 60 seconds.\n\nNeed extra credits? Just message us at [support@aminoanalytica.com](mailto:support@aminoanalytica.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Nw9-amina-the-agentic-protein-engineer", "votes": 15, "created_at": "2025-07-09T18:31:25.117Z" }, { "id": 82706, "title": "🧬 AminoAnalytica – Next generation proteins engineered with *protein* language models", "tagline": "We’re creating the next generation of peptides and enzymes using our proprietary pipeline, powered by protein language models.", "body": "Hey everyone – it’s [Abhi Rajendran](https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhirajen/), [Adam Wu](https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhwu/) and [Matteo Peluso](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteo-peluso-872b85199/)\n\n**Tl;dr**: just look at the pictures ;)\n\n# **💞 The A(mino) Team**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82706&key=user_uploads/1754946/96f298df-f236-4401-91d5-2ce61024e644)\n\n👨🏾 **Abhi Rajendran** – From Imperial College London to the Mercedes F1 Team, Abhi builds AI tools in data-intensive environments. AminoAnalytica was inspired by his computational bio master’s project and was the top AI x Robotics venture from Imperial in 2024.\n\n👦🏻 **Adam Wu** – With experience in academic and industry wet labs, Adam is now building his own. He has a background in materials science, tissue engineering and biosensing as a Thermo Fisher Scholar from Imperial.\n\n👱🏼‍♂️ **Matteo Peluso** – Bioinformatics PhD from the University of Zurich. His skills in biology, machine learning, and software development tie up everything seamlessly.\n\n👨🏻‍🦱 **Dr. Stefano Angioletti-Uberti** – Senior lecturer at Imperial, specializing in modeling biological and soft matter systems. He ensures models are based on the latest scientific principles.\n\n# **❌ Problem: better proteins are needed to accelerate global innovation**\n\n* Industrial and pharma companies prefer to use enzymes and peptides over harsh chemicals as they are more specific and sustainable.\n* However, natural proteins often lack stability, efficiency, or specificity for their desired applications leading to poor performance\n* Improving these proteins has been a costly and inefficient 'trial-and-error' process, where biotech companies randomly mutate existing proteins, test them, and repeat until success.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82706&key=user_uploads/1754946/afb4dbcf-6cc7-43e1-915e-609278e798fa)\n\n# **✅ Solution: AminoAnalytica’s protein adaptation platform, powered by PLMs**\n\n* Like how ChatGPT understands human language, our **\"protein language models\" (PLMs)** understand biology and can optimize proteins for industrial and therapeutic use.\n* This allows us to perform in-silico protein property prediction, eliminating the need for thousands of lab tests.\n* We’re transforming the traditional ‘trial-and-error’ method into an ultra-high throughput and rational process.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82706&key=user_uploads/1754946/65fb8e1a-d749-4245-adca-a0abc1ad8529)\n\n# **🤝 Any industry working with proteins can benefit from our tech**\n\nCurrently, we’re working on:\n\n* **Aquaculture feed** → enzymes for maximizing fish feed nutritional efficiency\n* **Pharmaceuticals** → peptide drugs with improved stability and specificity\n* **Climate tech** → enzymes for eco-friendly carbon capture\n* **Consumer goods** → safer enzymes for everyday products\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82706&key=user_uploads/1754946/30bf87a9-4ee8-49e6-a0ee-7f8dd85bf008)\n\n# **🐡 Get in touch with us!**\n\n* Upvote/share this post with your network and help spread the word!\n* If you (or anyone in your network) are as excited as we are about next generation industrial proteins and would like to learn more about what we’re doing, email us here - [founders@aminoanalytica.app](mailto:founders@aminoanalytica.app)\n* We’re also looking to expand **our advisory board** in the areas of aquaculture, fish testing, and feed manufacturing!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82706&key=user_uploads/1754946/908a3520-d234-4338-ad05-154aa3515672)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LVy-aminoanalytica-next-generation-proteins-engineered-with-protein-language-models", "votes": 138, "created_at": "2024-08-04T00:01:55.931Z" } ] }, { "id": 29714, "name": "Kopra Bio", "slug": "kopra-bio", "former_names": [ "GlioTx" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/acdb0c2a3124d9e5717a63d0231af9b6f7447919.png", "website": "https://kopra.bio", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Kopra Bio makes genetically engineered viruses that teach your immune system to kill cancer using tech we developed at UCSF. We’re making the next Keytruda ($25B/yr cancer drug blockbuster) starting with the most aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma. In the most challenging brain cancer model, we improve survival from 0% with the current FDA approved treatment to 90% with our treatment.", "one_liner": "Genetically engineered viruses that teach your immune system to kill…", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Therapeutics", "launched_at": 1724130421, "tags": [ "Gene Therapy", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Therapeutics", "Oncology" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Therapeutics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/kopra-bio", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/kopra-bio.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/kopra-bio", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/acdb0c2a3124d9e5717a63d0231af9b6f7447919.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Ankit Gupta", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/ankit-gupta" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2206641, "full_name": "Alexander Haddad", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": " Neurosurgery resident @ UCSF, scientific co-founder @ Kopra Bio. Published over 70 peer-reviewed publications as a neurosurgery resident at UCSF. Alex is particularly interested in the delivery of cell and gene therapies to the central nervous system and neuro-oncology. Kopra Bio is a serial biotech entrepreneur and a UCSF Neurosurgery resident on a mission to revolutionize cancer treatment. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-haddad-49b484305", "x_url": "https://x.com/AF_Haddad", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/93c5301fb0091307b0055844275d81efd5a9a3b4.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 83219, "title": "🔬🧠🧬 Kopra Bio - Making cancer cures using viral immunotherapy", "tagline": "Stealthy viruses that teach your immune system to kill cancer.", "body": "**Tl;dr**: We are [Kopra Bio](https://www.linkedin.com/company/kopra-bio), a serial biotech entrepreneur and a UCSF Neurosurgery resident on a mission to revolutionize cancer treatment. Kopra Bio is curing cancer using viral immunotherapy technology we developed at UCSF. We’re making the next Keytruda, a **$25B/yr cancer drug blockbuster**, starting with the most aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma. In preclinical models, we improve survival rates from 0% with standard-of-care treatment to **greater than 90% survival with our treatment.**\n\n**—**\n\nHey - we are Andrew and Alex!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83219&key=user_uploads/214420/8312b484-2aee-4ae8-bd7b-bc708051b7d1)\n\n# **Team:**\n\n🤵 [**Andrew Bartynski, PhD**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbartynski/) - Serial Biotech Entrepreneur and **repeat YC founder**. Developed the **contraceptive pill for men** as COO @ YourChoice Therapeutics (YC W19). Founded a **COVID-19 antiviral** company that went from founding to Phase II/III clinical trial in < 6 months and was acquired in < 1 year as COO @ ANA Therapeutics. Made **next-generation psychedelics** for mental health @ Alexander Shulgin Research Institute. Now curing cancer as CEO @ Kopra Bio.\n\n👨‍⚕️[**Alexander Haddad, MD**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-haddad-49b484305/) - Scientific Cofounder @ Kopra Bio, Neurosurgery Resident @ UCSF. Alex **published >** **70 peer-reviewed publications as a neurosurgery resident at UCSF**. He is particularly interested in **neuro-oncology** and the delivery of cell and **gene therapies** to the central nervous system. Alex helped spearhead the development of Kopra Bio’s viral technology in the labs of Dr. Manish Aghi and Dr. Noriyuki Kasahara. His clinical skills have also been recognized with the Krevans Award for clinical excellence at San Francisco General Hospital.\n\n👨‍⚕️ [**Manish Aghi, MD, PhD**](https://www.ucsfhealth.org/providers/dr-manish-aghi) - Neurosurgeon and Professor @ UCSF. Renowned expert with over **30 years of experience in Neurosurgery and tumor microenvironment** leading the Brain Tumor Research Center at UCSF with a focus on malignant brain tumors like glioblastoma.\n\n👨‍⚕️ [**Noriyuki Kasahara, MD, PhD**](https://braintumorcenter.ucsf.edu/people/noriyuki-kasahara) - CSO @ 4D Molecular Therapeutics, Professor of Neurological Surgery and Radiation Oncology @ UCSF. Dr. Kasahara has been a **world leader** in the field of **cancer research and gene therapy vector** **development** for over 30 years.\n\n**👩‍🔬** **Sara Collins, PhD** - Gene Therapy Specialist @ UCSF, Director @ 4D Molecular Therapeutics. World expert in the development of **vectors for cancer gene therapy**.\n\n# How do we get to a world without cancer?\n\n# **❌ Today’s approach** - death by a thousand cuts\n\nState-of-the-art cancer therapies target tumor mutations one by one. Despite more than 550 cancer drug approvals since the year 2000, there are still 10 million cancer deaths each year. This approach is expensive (**$1B per therapy**), slow (**10 years of development** per drug), and incremental (only **one mutation addressed** per therapy). Even the most successful cancer drugs of all time have **success rates of less than 10% in solid tumors**.\n\n# **✅ Kopra Bio’s Solution** - first principles approach that targets phenotypes seen across all cancers\n\nUsing **stealthy viruses🦠**, Kopra Bio infects cancer cells, spreads throughout tumors, and hijacks them to produce immune signals. The immune signals recruit T cells which then kill the cancer. This process teaches the patient’s immune system to kill their tumor - _in vivo_ - **curing the cancer and eliminating metastasis and recurrence.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83219&key=user_uploads/214420/71da663f-8b6a-41da-81bf-179a4cddb385)\n\n# **🔬Kopra Bio at a glance**\n\n* **Demonstrated efficacy** in the most challenging brain cancer models increasing survival from 0% without treatment to **greater than 90% survival** with our treatment\n* **Cancer selective** by design - reduced toxicity and adverse events\n* **Platform** approach broadly applicable across cancer\n* Strong **safety** profile\n* Highly stable and **scalable** to manufacture\n\n# **🙏 Asks**\n\n* Share this post on your socials and help spread the word!\n* If you’re as excited as we are about eradicating cancer and would like to learn more about what we’re doing, **email us** at [founders@kopra.bio](mailto:founders@koprabio.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LeF-kopra-bio-making-cancer-cures-using-viral-immunotherapy", "votes": 201, "created_at": "2024-08-20T15:08:44.470Z" } ] }, { "id": 29733, "name": "1849 bio", "slug": "1849-bio", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6a17250c337f8e98ac79079d08da2abffb3b3b6b.png", "website": "https://www.1849.bio", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "1849 bio designs microbes enabling cheap metal extraction allowing miners to unlock value from low quality copper and gold ores. Surprisingly, the mining industry is one of the largest scale users of biotech in the world with biomining processes accounting for ~1% of global copper production. Biomining is ultra-low cost, running around ~$1/ton of ore vs ~$7/ton for conventional processes. \r\n\r\nUnfortunately, while biomining is cheap, it can’t be applied to over 80% of copper ores, leaving vast resources without profitable extraction methods. An estimated ~$800B of copper sit today in waste materials and stockpiles with negative unit economics.\r\n\r\nWhile a great deal of effort has been spent on optimizing microbial metal extraction processes, very little effort has been spent on optimizing the microbes themselves. \r\n\r\nTo change that, we’re creating new biotech tools and platforms applied directly to the types of biology most relevant to miners. This enables us to develop new microbes and tackle some of the most difficult problems in biomining, unlocking billions in value from unprofitable resources while being more environmentally friendly than conventional processes.\r\n\r\nWe’re world class microbial engineers. We met while doing our PhDs in synthetic biology, where we spent our time applying and developing the most advanced bioengineering technologies to engineer living cells. ", "one_liner": "Engineering microbes for miners to unlock billions in trapped metal", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1720558135, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Climate", "Mining" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/1849-bio", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/1849-bio.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/1849-bio/", "x_url": "https://x.com/1849bio", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6a17250c337f8e98ac79079d08da2abffb3b3b6b.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 736094, "full_name": "Jai Padmakumar", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CEO of 1849 bio. I get excited working on difficult problems with outsized impacts if you can solve them. I studied Microbiology and Applied Math at the University of Washington before doing my PhD at MIT in a synthetic biology lab. I've spent my time pushing the limits of what’s possible in bioengineering.\n\n1849 is my second startup, the first of which I co-founded during grad school and led the early science at. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/jai-padmakumar", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4e675d7e4a7d57b363b4c651b1e4e87341b92730.jpg" }, { "user_id": 736376, "full_name": "Yongjin Park", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I am the co-founder and CSO of 1849 bio. I studied chemical engineering at KAIST and did my PhD at MIT in the Department of Biological Engineering. During my PhD, I developed core technology used in the world's first engineered probiotic that went into clinical trial. After completing PhD, I worked in deep biotech companies, developing microbial products that were administered to over 6M acres of farmland in the US (about the area of Belgium!).", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/yongjin-park-6604092a/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/7a8db85fbc0f4403667b06663061bc5c9c13dc42.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 82014, "title": "1849 bio: Microbes for miners", "tagline": "Optimizing microbes for mining 🧬 ⛏️🪨", "body": "**TL;DR – We’re building microbes for metal extraction, enabling cleaner and cheaper mining of difficult-to-process ores. This will unlock 100M tonnes of copper stranded in ores that are not profitable to mine.** \n\n—\n\nHey all! We’re [Yongjin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yongjin-park-6604092a/) and [Jai](https://linkedin.com/in/jai-padmakumar), co-founders of [1849 bio](https://www.1849.bio/), a team of genetic engineers developing microbes for metal extraction. We met while doing our PhDs at MIT and have spent the better portion of our adult lives hacking living organisms to do cool/useful tasks.  \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82014&key=user_uploads/736094/55c73446-daaf-49c2-b6ec-cd654ab4a66e)\n\nNow, we’re on a mission to make the mining industry more sustainable and ensure a stable metal supply for the green energy transition.  \n\n### The Challenge:\n\nThe drive to electrify the world is driving an unprecedented demand for metals like copper, nickel, lithium, and other rare earths. Unfortunately, ramping up metal production is incredibly difficult. Copper is expected to face a \\~20% supply gap by 2031, threatening to slow the rollout of critical technologies like EVs and wind turbines.   \n\nNew mines are difficult to open, taking an average of 16.5 years in the US _after_ a new ore body has been identified. These bodies of metal themselves have become more difficult to identify. After decades of selective mining, **most copper today exists in low grade ores** (ore that contains very little copper), **making economical extraction with conventional methods impossible**.  \n\nApproximately 100M tonnes of copper is trapped in stockpiles and waste materials without any means to profitably extract the metal.  \n\n### The Solution:\n\nBiology! It turns out the mining industry is one of the largest-scale users of biotech in the world. \\~1.2% of copper production in 2019-2020 was done using microbes in a process called “bioleaching.” The basic idea here is to: \n\n1. Stack ore into a giant pile — think miles long and 100s of feet tall. This pile is called a “heap.” \n\n ![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82014&key=user_uploads/736094/146fb0a7-bff6-421f-81e9-41eea8e38d68)\n\n2. Grow a very unique group of organisms that love acid and use both iron in the rocks and CO2 from the air as food sources. This triggers a series of chemical reactions that ultimately separates the solid copper from the ore into a liquid form.\n3. Collect this liquid at the bottom and run a current through it.\n\nThen you have pure copper! \n\nMiners have been using this process for copper extraction for decades (and in some cases, for other metals like gold, nickel, and cobalt). The process is cleaner and \\~7x cheaper than conventional processes. It also produces fewer tailings (mine waste), a growing environmental problem and liability for miners \n\nWhy isn’t this used everywhere? \n\n1. **It doesn’t work for 80% of copper ores**. Owing to some complex chemistry, the dominant copper ore, chalcopyrite, can’t be processed using bioleaching.  \n2. **It’s really slow, narrowing its use cases**. While a conventional process can melt ore down and give you pure copper in an hour, bioleaching operates on a timescale of months to years.\n\nWe’re using our deep background in bioengineering to build platforms and tools specifically for the types of biology miners need. By engineering the microbes themselves, we are introducing a new set of capabilities to the mining industry: \n\n* **Bioleaching solutions that work on difficult-to-process ores**, like chalcopyrite, unlock billions of dollars of value currently trapped in uneconomical materials. \n* **Faster metal extraction timelines**, getting miners their cash faster. \n* **Low CapEx, sustainable metal extraction**. Our solutions fit into existing mine infrastructure and processes.\n\n# Our asks:\n\n1. If you know anyone in the mining industry, we’d love to meet them! \n2. If you know anyone working in the e-waste recycling industry, we’d love to chat with them, too. We can tune our process for e-waste recycling and are looking into applications for that as well.\n\nReach out to [intro@1849.bio](mailto:intro@1849.bio)!", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LKo-1849-bio-microbes-for-miners", "votes": 28, "created_at": "2024-07-17T04:20:31.752Z" } ] }, { "id": 30702, "name": "TwentyTwo", "slug": "twentytwo", "former_names": [ "Muon", "Mohi" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5be6b2304553a4bca9bfa1f2953ae02638a8d430.png", "website": "https://twentytwo.bio/", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "AI is making biology easy to engineer. Life-saving drugs and therapies are accelerating, but so is the ability for bad actors to create a pandemic. TwentyTwo is working on the defensive stack to prevent the next pandemic.", "one_liner": "AI infrastructure for biosecurity", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Industrial Bio", "launched_at": 1753262535, "tags": [ "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Compliance", "Security", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Industrial Bio" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/twentytwo", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2025/twentytwo.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "New York City", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/mohi-inc", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5be6b2304553a4bca9bfa1f2953ae02638a8d430.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1970485, "full_name": "Evan Seeyave", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "kurzgesagt and mango enjoyer", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanseeyave", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8d3154cafebe2dd909cd3639d2d5f15c0758ee9e.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 92831, "title": "Mohi: Debugging assistant for AI agents", "tagline": "Don’t know why your agent messed up? Neither do we. But Mohi will show you exactly where your agents went wrong - and why.", "body": "Hey folks! 👋\n\nWe’re building Mohi, a debugging assistant for AI agents. If you've ever spent hours scrolling through 500+ LLM calls asking “what the hell happened?” — this is for you.\n\nhttps://youtu.be/UzQZlUdZ59s\n\n### The Problem\n\nAgents are complicated — tools, memory, web search, nested loops, and hallucinations. And when something breaks, it’s like untangling spaghetti. You’re stuck scrolling through flat logs, guessing which of the _35_ steps silently failed.\n\nIt's slow, brittle, and makes you second-guess your whole stack.\n\n### **The Fix**\n\nMohi makes debugging agents **_fast_**, and **_actually usable_**.\n\nJust tag key steps in your agent with our lightweight SDK (think: tool calls, memory access, context switches, decision logics), and we build a clean visual graph of what happened under the hood. Then we go a step further and show you:\n\n* where your agent last succeeded\n* where it went off the rails (hallucinated, failed tool, wrong branch)\n* and how to re-run broken steps with new inputs\n\nIt’s not just observability. It's a diagnosis.\n\n### **Who We Are**\n\nPreviously, Hao worked on AI and distributed systems observability at AWS, and Evan worked on automated testing at Google and AI evaluations at SecureBio. We met at MIT and worked on a bunch of projects together, eventually building agents ourselves and seeing firsthand how painful debugging can be — so we built Mohi to fix it.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=92831&key=user_uploads/1675765/aa1f6344-8ce0-4ad5-a5ba-0e203412791a)\n\n### **Our Ask**\n\nIf you’re building complex agents — we’d love to chat!\n\n→[ https://trymohi.com/](https://trymohi.com/)\n\n→ [founders@trymohi.com](mailto:founders@trymohi.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/O9H-mohi-debugging-assistant-for-ai-agents", "votes": 4, "created_at": "2026-02-07T00:21:30.007Z" } ] }, { "id": 32521, "name": "Molagri", "slug": "molagri", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/71eba8e2b8b0a262e4c76ef41e5ab46b59552e6d.png", "website": "https://molagri.com", "all_locations": "Toronto, ON, Canada", "long_description": "Molagri develops safer, more effective pesticides for agriculture.\r\n\r\nWe design biopesticides that hit a precise molecular target unique to pest insects, knocking out pests while sparing pollinators, beneficial insects, and the wider ecosystem. By modeling how pests are likely to evolve, we stay a step ahead of resistance, keeping our products effective against the pests of today and tomorrow. The higher efficacy and biobased production will also contribute to emissions reductions in both manufacturing and field use.\r\n\r\nOur founders are PhD lab mates from the University of Toronto who have worked together for six years and published in Nature Communications and Nature Microbiology. \r\n", "one_liner": "Resistance free pesticides.", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Agriculture", "launched_at": 1782770010, "tags": [ "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Sustainability", "Climate", "Agriculture" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Agriculture" ], "regions": [ "Canada", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/molagri", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/molagri.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Toronto", "country": "CA", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/molagri", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/71eba8e2b8b0a262e4c76ef41e5ab46b59552e6d.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2273508, "full_name": "Zaky Hassan", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Zaky is a protein biochemist and viral structural biologist who has characterized mechanisms of antibody neutralization in human pathogenic coronaviruses. He has an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry (Honours BSc) and graduate training in Biochemistry (PhD candidate) from the University of Toronto. He was awarded $130K+ in fellowships, and published twice in Nature Communications. Zaky previously founded a non-profit, raised $1M+ in grants and operated programming for 1000+ youth in Toronto. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/zaky-hassan/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a0a2d10fb8eb3af2c5ae7e66b5bcd91e9c0fa244.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3659967, "full_name": "Min Jin", "title": "Founder/CSO", "founder_bio": "Min is a viral structural biologist and protein biochemist, and the current world record holder for the highest resolution structure of a coronavirus spike protein in the Protein Data Bank (1.68 Å). She has an undergraduate degree in Biophysics (Honours BSc) and graduate training in Biochemistry (PhD candidate) from the University of Toronto and she has published in Nature Microbiology and Nature Communications. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/min-jin-ca/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/42b06f5f78332c243bd0f7ed0a6865ddf972d2be.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 114656, "title": "Scientist / Senior Scientist, Synthetic Virology for RNA Delivery", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/molagri/jobs/HdOJVZM-scientist-senior-scientist-synthetic-virology-for-rna-delivery", "location": "Toronto, ON, CA", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Science", "role_type": "Biotechnology", "salary_range": "$130K - $160K CAD", "equity_range": "0.50% - 1.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] }, { "id": 114689, "title": "Scientist / Senior Scientist, Insect Biology and Bioassays", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/molagri/jobs/zvbnS35-scientist-senior-scientist-insect-biology-and-bioassays", "location": "Toronto, ON, CA", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Science", "role_type": "Biotechnology", "salary_range": "$130K - $160K CAD", "equity_range": "0.50% - 1.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] }, { "id": 114690, "title": "Sr. Research Associate, Yeast Expression and VLP Production", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/molagri/jobs/YZjWSPT-sr-research-associate-yeast-expression-and-vlp-production", "location": "Toronto, ON, CA", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Science", "role_type": "Biotechnology", "salary_range": "$85K - $105K CAD", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] }, { "id": 116349, "title": "Scientist / Senior Scientist, Molecular Display and Binder Discovery", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/molagri/jobs/qHL3N9N-scientist-senior-scientist-molecular-display-and-binder-discovery", "location": "Toronto, ON, CA", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Science", "role_type": "Biology", "salary_range": "$130K - $160K CAD", "equity_range": "0.50% - 1.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Molagri raises $5.8m to build ‘updatable’ biopesticides", "url": "https://agfundernews.com/molagri-raises-5-8m-to-build-updatable-biopesticides", "date": "Oct 14, 2026" }, { "title": "Molagri wants to design a pesticide that evolves as quickly as pests | BetaKit", "url": "https://betakit.com/molagri-wants-to-design-a-pesticide-that-evolves-as-quickly-as-pests/", "date": "Sep 04, 2026" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 108796, "title": "Molagri: Resistance-free pesticides 🪲", "tagline": "Species-specific biopesticides built from engineered insect viruses, updatable the moment pests develop resistance.", "body": "**TLDR:** We build next-generation pesticides from engineered insect virus-like particles. They target a single pest species, stay safe for humans, pollinators, and the environment, and can be reprogrammed over time as pests evolve resistance.\n\nPesticides underpin modern agriculture and food security, accounting for $80B in annual spend. Without effective pesticides, we can't grow enough food.\n\n\n\n**The Problem 🌱**\n\nPests are developing resistance faster than new pesticides can be invented to replace the failing ones. At the same time, regulators are banning core active ingredients over environmental and human toxicity. Farmers are losing tools from both ends at once.\n\n**Our Solution 🪲**\n\nWe build pesticides out of insect virus-like particles. We start with a virus that only infects insects and is harmless to humans. We strip out its genome so it can't infect or replicate, and we keep the empty protein shell as a delivery vehicle.\n\nWe engineer that shell with two parts:\n\n* A **targeting element** that recognizes a single pest species (or a set of species). This is what keeps the product species-specific and invisible to humans, pollinators, and beneficial insects.\n* A **payload** that kills the pest.\n\nBoth parts are swappable. Changing the targeting element will modify which pest it kills. Changing the payload will result in a new kill mechanism for the same pest, which is how we update the product when resistance appears.\n\nDesigning for true pollinator safety is hard, so we did the underlying science ourselves. We solved a cryo-EM structure of a key receptor in honey bees, which lets us deliberately engineer our targeting elements so they do not bind pollinators.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=108796&key=user_uploads/2273508/62f4362a-1938-4843-ab26-c9a62c742a84)\n\n**Why Us? 🧑🏽‍🔬**\n\nWe are Zaky and Min, viral structural biology PhD candidates and lab mates at the University of Toronto, where we have worked together for the past 6 years studying how viruses interact with their hosts. We have published in Nature Microbiology and Nature Communications, and Min holds the world record for the highest-resolution structure of a coronavirus spike protein.\n\n**Traction 📈**\n\nWe have signed our first grower LOI, have more in the pipeline, and produced our first set of viruses for testing. During the batch we also solved a cryo-EM structure of a honey-bee receptor that directly informs our pollinator-safe design.\n\n**Connect with us!**\n\n* **Growers and producers**: if you are fighting resistant pests or losing tools to bans, we would love to talk about your crops and target pests. Reach us at [molagri.com](http://molagri.com) \n* **Everyone else:** intros to ag and crop-science operators, or anyone who has built regulated biological products, are always welcome.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SIm-molagri-resistance-free-pesticides", "votes": 15, "created_at": "2026-08-03T18:35:06.582Z" } ] }, { "id": 32587, "name": "TareBio", "slug": "tarebio", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9e770bbea41518001119968d389d0d3e35ce7abe.png", "website": "https://tarebio.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Our platform develops personalized or population-level vaccines for any disease in weeks by changing only one input: the immune imprint. Instead of trying to predict which antigens might work, we read out immune cells already fighting the disease in the body and reverse-engineer antigens that activate them. We've already run our platform end-to-end and created a vaccine that cured cancer in mice.", "one_liner": "Vaccines for any cancer or infection in weeks.", "team_size": 1, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Drug Discovery and Delivery", "launched_at": 1785462754, "tags": [ "Vaccines", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotechnology" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Drug Discovery and Delivery" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/tarebio", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/tarebio.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/tarebio/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9e770bbea41518001119968d389d0d3e35ce7abe.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/96525419f2b8f6b4da09d8c897eb1c8553bef26f.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Ankit Gupta", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/ankit-gupta" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 431020, "full_name": "Eta Atolia", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder & CEO, TareBio (YC S26). MD-PhD from UCLA-Caltech, where she built a novel platform that develops vaccines for any cancer or infection in weeks, funded by the Gates Foundation. BS in Biology from MIT. Conducted research at the Koch Institute, Harvard Medical School, and the Weizmann.\n\nSelect Awards: UCLA MD-PhD Merit Scholar, UCLA TDG Senior Fellow, MIT iGEM Gold Medal, MIT IDEAs winner, MIT Dean Advisory Group, WhiteHouse Science Fair, Bessie Lawrence Scholar, Intel STS Finalist", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/eta-atolia/", "x_url": "https://x.com/eatolia", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1b89afa4d7ba0012222ebc57912ad8e652db40bd.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 108804, "title": "TareBio: Vaccines for any cancer or infection in weeks", "tagline": "We make personalized or population-level vaccines reverse-engineered from the immune system. We have already cured cancer in mice and are vaccinating our first patient within the year.", "body": "**TL;DR:** Our platform develops **personalized** or **population-level** vaccines for **_any_ disease** in weeks by **changing _only one input_**: the immune imprint. Instead of trying to predict which antigens might work, we read out immune cells already fighting the disease in the body and reverse-engineer antigens that activate them. We've already run our platform end-to-end and created a vaccine that cured cancer in mice. We will be vaccinating our first patient within a year.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=108804&key=user_uploads/431020/46cdbd4d-72d9-4231-a781-01a886dd82a4)\n\nView our launch video here: \n\n**The vaccine bottleneck**\n\nFor 200+ years, vaccines have been designed using the same workflow: study a pathogen or tumor, _predict_ which antigens might trigger protection, vaccinate, and hopefully generate a good immune response. This works for simpler infections. It has struggled for decades on complex diseases like HIV, TB, Hep C, and nearly _every cancer_. Currently, vaccine design is treated as a prediction problem.\n\n**What we do differently**\n\nInstead, we treat it as a readout problem. The **immune system has _already solved_** antigen selection in the body, it knows what it's responding to and the best immune cells for the job. So, we flip the whole process around:\n\n1. Capture the immune cells already responding to a cancer or infection, the \"**immune imprint**\"\n2. Use this imprint to directly identify, or “**reverse engineer**”, activating antigens\n3. Build a **vaccine** from those antigens\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=108804&key=user_uploads/431020/31744f0e-4a44-4aa9-aa2e-29d174a8d30a)\n\nThe same platform works for **_any_ disease** by changing one input: the immune imprint. Function over prediction, no constrained search space, and the output is a vaccine that can generate durable immunity in the body, not a transient antibody conjugate or cellular therapy.\n\n**Proof**\n\nWe built the full platform in mice and ran it end-to-end: identified antigens from the immune imprint of the cancer, designed a vaccine from them, and **cured lymphoma in mice.** Nothing about the technology is specific to lymphoma, it generalizes to any cancer or infection. We are using our technology to create both personalized (n=1) and population-level vaccines.\n\n**Why us**\n\nI'm Eta Atolia, founder and CEO. I built this platform over the last 8 years as part of my MD-PhD at UCLA-Caltech with funding from The Gates Foundation. Before this, I did my undergrad at MIT with most of my time dedicated to cancer immunotherapy and infectious disease research at the Koch and HMS. Our scientific advisory board includes Darrell Irvine, PhD (Vice Chair of Immunology at Scripps, Former MIT Professor of 22 years, world-renowned vaccine engineer), Manish Butte, MD, PhD (Chief of Immunology at UCLA and expert rare disease clinician), and John Glaspy, MD, MPH (Endowed Chair and Medical Director of Integrative Oncology at UCLA).\n\n**Our ask**\n\nWe are actively working with organizations and individuals to create both population-level vaccines and personalized treatments.\n\nHelpful things as we build:\n\n* If you have **patient tumor** **or** **blood samples**, please reach out.\n* Intros to **biotech + pharma** and **vaccine teams** for partnerships.\n* **Immunologists, oncologists, infectious disease specialists,** and **ML engineers** who want to build this with us.\n\nIf any of this resonates, reach out at [contact@tarebio.com](mailto:contact@tarebio.com).\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=108804&key=user_uploads/431020/e32e6406-ca9a-4740-9a77-48dd31f02e7f)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SIu-tarebio-vaccines-for-any-cancer-or-infection-in-weeks", "votes": 13, "created_at": "2026-08-04T14:27:01.936Z" } ] } ]