If the 20th century was the century of physics, the 21st century will be the century of biology. While combustion, electricity and nuclear power defined scientific advance in the last century, the new biology of genome research—which will provide the complete genetic blueprint of a species, including the human species—will define the next.
- Craig Venter and Daniel Cohen, Fall 2004, Paris
About
What a time to be alive. As a species, we’ve arrived at an unprecedented moment in Evolution.
We can now read, write, and edit DNA—the source code of all living organisms. Advances in DNA sequencing technology have outpaced Moore’s Law, becoming the “broadly enabling microscope” of the 21st century. Complex pools of DNA can now be ordered online. CRISPR has transformed gene editing from a bespoke, error-prone, and laborious process into a programmable task routinely carried out by graduate students around the world.
Simultaneously, AI is emerging as a powerful tool for modeling living systems. As Demis Hassabis has argued, “just as mathematics turned out to be the right description language for physics, biology may turn out to be the perfect type of regime for the application of AI.”
If Moore’s Law gave birth to the Internet and reordered society, what will come of this exponential progress in our ability to understand and engineer life?
This newsletter is dedicated to answering that question. Through deeply researched essays, my goal is to distill my learnings about the most important new data, companies, and ideas from the frontier of biology.
About Me
My name is Elliot Hershberg, and I’m obsessed with biotech. I began my career as a researcher and engineer. For over a decade, I worked on a range of projects spanning basic biology, translational development of cancer vaccines, and open source software development for genomics. I earned degrees in biology and computer science and a PhD in Genetics from Stanford.
I’m now a Partner at Amplify, an early-stage venture capital firm in the Bay Area, where I help lead our dedicated Bio fund. Our goal is to help technical founders build and scale the next generation of Digital Biology businesses.
I always enjoy hearing from readers who share the same passion for accelerating progress in biology. Feel free to respond to the newsletter or reach out on any channel here.
