Re: [DIYbio] Privately funded designer babies

On Wed, Feb 13, 2019 at 7:23 PM 'qetzal' via DIYbio
<diybio@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>
> I base my comments on the slides that are supposedly taken from their presentation. They're the ones saying they want to start with muscle growth and longevity. No mention of starting with SNPs or other simple things.

Well sure, that's the aim. An elevator pitch isn't going to elaborate
on a detailed process of de-risking or how to achieve a
proof-of-concept.

>
> I can also assure you that the plan in their Use of Funds slide is ludicrous. $0.5-2m to set up a lab, do testing in 12 dogs, using a single scientist, then move into humans and create the first man with transgenic sperm?

The dog scientist they mention is already working in a backyard shed
lab, working to transform sperm with the exact technique mentioned...
and doing so on a shoestring budget while he works a completely
unrelated day job (in an oil refinery or something like that). I see
no reason to doubt those numbers as a low-estimate, but business plans
are well known to run over budget, especially for bleeding edge
projects. Seems like a non-issue to be as dismissive as you are being.
Additionally, they already mention three scientists being paid (the
dog guy, the mouse guy, and Max... presumably the human guy, maybe
test subject #1 himself???).

>$5-10m to make the procedure "as safe as possible" and maybe build their own IVF lab? I've been working in biotech for 30 years, I promise you that's not remotely realistic.

Series A is usually only the start of a series of funding rounds, so
"as safe as possible" would be assumed (by startup investors) to mean
within Series A budget... as long as progress is demonstrated, you
then move on to additional rounds of funding:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/102015/series-b-c-funding-what-it-all-means-and-how-it-works.asp

> So unless those slides are fakes, I stand by my assessment: these guys are either very naive or delusional.

It just sounds like you haven't really studied or tried starting a
company that has lofty goals.
If anything, it sounds like you'd be OK with this if they just bump up
their numbers, which obviously would mean more quality control, etc...

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