Shift Bioscience is using deep learning to unlock cellular reprogramming, a powerful biological pathway that can reverse aging and age-driven diseases in the dish but is not yet safe for clinical use.
Dr. Daniel Ives, Shift Bioscience
With this lecture I would like to describe two journeys, the science journey and the personal journey of the science. The journey of the science starts with hypothesis driven investigation, through crude computational biology, to the first applications of machine learning, to the construction of massive datasets ending with effective cell simulations. The personal journey of the science starts with a singular TED talk by an eccentric Cambridge geneticist, progressing to academia, embracing poor odds, personally funding science, building a team, learning to communicate properly and building the company to make it all real.
I received my PhD from the University of Cambridge where I focused on the role of mutations in the mitochondrial genome in rare diseases, embracing computational biology to discover new interventions. In 2017 I founded Shift Bioscience and since then, I've been on a scientific journey from mitochondria through mouse aging clocks to single-cell aging clocks for CRISPR screening and, finally, to now: leading a team that's pioneering machine learning techniques to unlock cellular reprogramming for safe reversal of aging and age-driven diseases.
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