Genomics and life sciences pioneer J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., is back with a new J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) spinoff that’s looking to shake up the world of diagnostics and genomic sequencing.
Diploid Genomics Inc. comes into public view as an artificial-intelligence-driven advanced genomics analytics company, according to a Jan. 22 press release.
The startup already boasts a partnership with health tech venture capital firm Healthier Capital, though neither company revealed financial details of the backing.
DGI is looking to tap advanced AI models, along with the latest genomic sequencing tech, and combine these with advanced imaging and health data.
The idea is to bring all this cutting-edge tech together to “deliver diagnostic insights with higher precision for life science companies, health systems, researchers, and patients,” the company said in a Jan. 22 statement.
DGI will use sequencing technology from PacBio and Oxford Nanopore as well as computing infrastructure, genomics and imaging data from the JCVI.
DGI is also building its own sequencing center in San Diego to “provide AI-enhanced, next generation clinical grade sequencing,” according to the launch announcement.
Venter is best known as leading one of the first draft sequences of the human genome while also founding the JCVI, which focuses on genomic research.
He also co-founded several companies including Synthetic Genomics Inc. (now Viridos), SGI DNA (now Telesis Bio) and Human Longevity Inc., from which he stepped down as CEO in 2018.
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The startup will be helmed by Venter as well as multimodal imaging expert Anders Dale, Ph.D., and computational sciences expert Gene Myers, Ph.D.
The name Diploid refers to the presence of two full sets of chromosomes in an organism’s cells, with each parent contributing a chromosome to each pair.
