Start up biotech 23 strands intends to integrate genomics into mainstream health care through breakthrough bioinformatics research and innovations, scientific literature analysis, and clinical insights based on whole genome sequencing (WGS).

A human body contains about 3 billion pairs of genes. But the function of each gene is not yet known. Genome sequencing links genes to their function, and 23Strands hopes to unlock those details to revolutionize healthcare and how medical treatments are delivered.

Sydney startup uses artificial intelligence (AI) for whole genome sequencing to deliver personalized medical treatments, and has done so established collaborations with a range of prominent medical research partners.

The AI-driven technologies have the potential to revolutionize disease diagnosis, drug discovery, therapeutic interventions, clinical decision support systems and automated clinical reporting.

CEO Mark Grosser said 23Strands is making significant progress using AI and genome sequencing in clinical, research and industrial settings.

“We are proud to expand our university partnership with UNSW as we become one of 10 companies to complete the UNSW Health10X accelerator in 2020,” he said.

“This program complements the great work we are doing with others, such as Professor Jie Lu and her team at the Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute and UTS, and we are eager to apply AI to key health challenges, such as rare childhood diseases.”

The projects 23Strands is working on include the Baker Hart and Diabetes Institute to develop a new method for early identification and treatment of heart disease to prevent heart attacks. They received a $1 million grant to measure genetic and lifestyle markers, and the startup will also deliver a digital health data platform that combines a patient’s health data from multiple sources.

Indigenous Australians are also a focus in a nationwide collaboration between industry, researchers, Indigenous community health organizations and genetic experts to develop genomic research and resources to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, supported by a $5 million Synergy grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

In the meantime, 23Strands is an important commercial partner in the project led by CAD limitsProfessor Gemma Fig Treewhich aims to prevent heart attacks by discovering and implementing new blood biomarkers that identify themselves silent coronary artery disease (CAD)as well as new drugs that target a person’s CAD susceptibility and stop the disease from growing.

And the national scientific body CSIRO chose 23Strands as an industry partner to develop AI-driven medical technologies to support patients, clinicians and the healthcare system.