CANCER EARLY DETECTION STARTUP GRAIL RAISES HUGE AMOUNT OF FUNDING

I wonder how much 900 million dollars would be in Japanese yen...!

GRAIL, A CANCER EARLY DETECTION STARTUP FUNDED BY BILL GATES AND JEFF BEZOS, RAISES $900 MILLION FROM DENTSU VENTURES AND OTHERS TO EXPAND INTO JAPAN

GRAIL'S TECHNOLOGY DETERMINES CANCER BY FINDING DNA AND RNA IN THE BLOODSTREAM FROM TUMOR CELLS AND DNA SEQUENCING (READING DNA SEQUENCE INFORMATION). THE TARGET FOR COMMERCIALIZATION IS 2019, AND THE COST OF ONE TEST IS EXPECTED TO BE AROUND $500. DNA SEQUENCING ITSELF IS NOT A NEW CONCEPT, BUT THE FACT THAT GRAIL IS STRIVING TO PROVIDE A PRACTICAL LEVEL OF SERVICE AT A LOW COST AND WITH EASE SEEMS TO BE THE REASON WHY GRAIL IS HIGHLY REGARDED.

THE CONCEPT SEEMS TO BE TO USE DNA AS AN ELEMENT OF A SEQUENCE AND DO YOUR BEST WITH MACHINE LEARNING. THAT IN ITSELF SOUNDS LIKE A "SURE THING", BUT SINCE THERE IS A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF INFORMATION IN A PERSON'S DNA, IT'S LIKE "FINDING A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK". IN ADDITION, OF COURSE, THERE ARE SO MANY SUBJECTS, SO IT MUST BE VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND A SOLUTION THAT LEADS TO EARLY DETECTION. IT IS LIKE VISUALIZING SOMETHING THAT IS NOT VISIBLE TO THE EYE.

I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S REALLY WORTH $900 MILLION, BUT IT'S A DREAM COME TRUE, AND HOPEFULLY THE DAWN OF AN ERA WHERE IT SAVES LIVES.