This week on The Genetics Podcast, Patrick is joined by Molly He, CEO and co-founder of Element Biosciences. They discuss the current landscape of sequencing technologies, Element’s innovative sequencing platform, and the potential of using in-sample multiomic profiling across different stages of drug discovery. 

Show Notes: 

0:00 Intro to The Genetics Podcast

00:59 Welcome to Molly

01:42 Persistent barriers in precision medicine

04:54 Limitations of multiomics technologies and the unique advantage of Element’s approach

07:33 How Element started by inventing an ambitious sequencing instrument

11:33 Overview of the chemistry behind Element’s sequencing technology

14:41 Sequencing workflow of Element’s technology and technical advantages

18:24 Sequencing inside cells and drug discovery insights from a study on tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance pathways

25:57 Sequencing for CRISPR perturbation and direct genotype–phenotype linkage in the same cell

27:33 Whole-transcriptome in situ sequencing and applications in patient samples

29:19 Simplifying single-cell transcriptomics with direct in-sample sequencing

30:31 Applying the single-cell spatial technology to different steps of the drug discovery process

36:43 Competition in the sequencing industry and recent news about Illumina filing a patent infringement case against Element

38:43 Lessons from building Element over eight years

40:32 Insight into maintaining a cohesive culture as Element has multiplied in size and across countries

42:06 The importance of input data quality for AI applications and excitement about the possibility of predicting biology

45:40 Closing remarks

Find out more

• Element Biosciences (https://www.elementbiosciences.com/)

• Pre-print (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.06.652479v1)

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