Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Biosensor Startup Monod Bio Raises $25M

NEW YORK — Biosensor firm Monod Bio said on Monday that it has raised $25 million in a seed financing round.

The round was led by Matrix Capital and included Global Health Investment Corporation, Cercano Management, the Washington Research Foundation, Boom Capital Ventures, Sahsen Ventures, and Pack Ventures.

Monod is developing a biosensor platform that combines binding, transduction, and amplification in a single step to enable the detection of a variety of molecules including biomarkers, viruses, and toxins. The Seattle-based firm, which was spun out of the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design in 2021, said it has created biosensors for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, cancer receptors, and cardiac troponin.

Monod said it will use the new funding to advance its LucCage platform for the rapid development of one-step biosensors and reporter proteins to detect targets for applications in biotechnology and medicine.

"We know these new biosensors can readily detect virus proteins or antibodies in simulated nasal fluid or donated serum," Monod Cofounder David Baker said in a statement. "Our next goal is to ensure they can be used reliably in a diagnostic setting."

The Scan

ChatGPT Does As Well As Humans Answering Genetics Questions, Study Finds

Researchers in the European Journal of Human Genetics had ChatGPT answer genetics-related questions, finding it was about 68 percent accurate, but sometimes gave different answers to the same question.

Sequencing Analysis Examines Gene Regulatory Networks of Honeybee Soldier, Forager Brains

Researchers in Nature Ecology & Evolution find gene regulatory network differences between soldiers and foragers, suggesting bees can take on either role.

Analysis of Ashkenazi Jewish Cohort Uncovers New Genetic Loci Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

The study in Alzheimer's & Dementia highlighted known genes, but also novel ones with biological ties to Alzheimer's disease.

Tara Pacific Expedition Project Team Finds High Diversity Within Coral Reef Microbiome

In papers appearing in Nature Communications and elsewhere, the team reports on findings from the two-year excursion examining coral reefs.