Insights from BCC Research

Synthetic biology. Those aren’t two words most people expect to hear next to each other. What does it mean? Why is it important? How does it impact our future?

If you’re at all interested in health, chances are you’ve heard of the gut microbiome. It’s become quite the buzz word, for both individuals and for companies. In recent years it has attracted millions of dollars in federal grants, awards and funding from venture capitalists. And there is ground-breaking work that is being done in this area. Technological advances in next-generation sequencing and data analytics that is being coupled with modern approaches of systems biology and genetic engineering is significantly expanding our knowledge in the microbial populations and how it interacts with human hosts.

Despite great advances in treatments and technology, cancer continues to be the second leading cause of death—worldwide. This makes the market for next generation cancer diagnostics one that is ripe with significant growth potential. A key driving force for industry growth is liquid biopsy-based cancer diagnostics.

Artificial intelligence is an application most everyone is familiar with. Yet, the concept of what AI can do is continually evolving. New systems that are in the process of being developed are opening doors in fields not initially associated to ‘smart robots’ and similar images AI conjures up.