NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Mammoth Biosciences, a biotech startup cofounded by CRISPR researcher Jennifer Doudna, came out of stealth mode today by announcing a plan to develop a CRISPR-enabled platform capable of detecting any biomarker or disease containing DNA or RNA.
The company — which said it has backing from several venture capital firms including Mayfield, NFX, 8VC, AME Cloud, Wireframe, Kairos, and Boom Capital — said it has exclusively licensed proprietary CRISPR technology from the University of California, which it will use as the basis for the development of a credit card-sized point-of-care test that will allow for fast, real-time, simultaneous detection of multiple conditions, in clinical and at-home settings. For at-home testing, once the user has completed the test, they will be able to securely upload an anonymous photo of the testing strip to Mammoth's corresponding application for remote analysis and then receive confidential results and professional advice in less than an hour.
Mammoth was also cofounded by Stanford researchers Trevor Martin and Ashley Tehranchi — who will serve as CEO and chief technology officer, respectively — and UC Berkeley PhD students Janice Chen and Lucas Harrington, who will head the firm's scientific research. Doudna will chair the company's scientific advisory board.
"Imagine a world where you could test for the flu right from your living room and determine the exact strain you've been infected with, or rapidly screen for the early warning signs of cancer," Martin said in a statement. "That's what we're aiming to do at Mammoth — bring affordable testing to everyone. But even beyond healthcare, we're aiming to build the platform for CRISPR apps and offer the technology across many industries."
Mammoth said it is currently reviewing partnership requests from those interested in building other applications on its CRISPR-based platform.