Signage for Prenetics, a Hong Kong-based biotechnology company, at the company’s laboratory in Hong Kong, China, on Jan. 26, 2018. Anthony Kwan| Bloomberg | Getty Images Hong Kong biotech company Prenetics is set to merge with Artisan Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company, in a deal that will value the new entity at $ 1.3… Read More »
Fungi in the lab Hexagon Bio In 1928, a Scottish researcher by the name of Alexander Fleming came back from vacation to discover that he’d accidentally grown a species of fungi called Penicillium on a petri dish containing bacteria. The fungi, to Fleming’s surprise, appeared to be keeping the growth of that bacteria at bay.… Read More »
In Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, I review Loonshots, a new book on innovation written by biotech entrepreneur Safi Bahcall; the author’s key point is that innovation requires attention to organizational structure – it’s critical, Bahcall argues, to separate “artists” and “soldiers” yet allow their ideas to influence each other. Organizations seeking to cultivate innovation should… Read More »
2018 was bonkers for science. From a woman who gave birth using a transplanted uterus, to the infamous CRISPR baby scandal, to forensics adopting consumer-based genealogy test kits to track down criminals, last year was a factory churning out scientific “whoa” stories with consequences for years to come. With CRISPR still in the headlines, Britain… Read More »