Wayfinder Biosciences
Today, engineering biology is like trying to shoot down a fighter jet with a bow and arrow. Biotech is waiting for someone to develop the heat-seeking missile.
* Data source: Crunchbase
- Founded
- 2020
- Employees*
- 3
- Funding to Date*
- $675,000
- Website
- wayfinderbio.com
“Imagine drugs that adjust their own dosing on the fly. Cellular factories that know how to optimize their own metabolism. Gene editing that activates only in the right place. The key is RNA.”
It takes the world's RNA experts years to make an RNA-based biosensor. Wayfinder does it in 2 weeks.
In the last few years, aptamers linked to CRISPR have brought programmable logic to drug design. However, the logic is primitive – once turned on, CRISPR remains on. Wayfinder is working on RNA-biosensors so that drugs can continuously sense their microenvironment, and turn modalities like CRISPR both on and off in response to what they are sensing.
And they do it way faster than anyone else in the world. Wayfinder is WAY faster.
A spinout from the Center for Synthetic Biology at the University of Washington, Wayfinder has already done 8 biosensors and is engaging multiple ecosystem partners.
