Blog
Automating the Harvest, One Strawberry at a Time
First, let’s clear one thing up: the strawberry is not, in fact, a berry.
It’s what botanists call an “aggregate accessory fruit,” meaning that the flesh of the fruit is derived from the receptacle that holds the...
This Rare Disease Day, Let’s Do More
There are some 7,000 known rare diseases in the world today and they affect an estimated 25-30 million people in the United States alone.
This day, celebrated every year on February 28th, holds...
What the Latest Round of Food Contamination Recalls Say About Ag Innovation
It’s happened again. Last month, the United States Department of Agriculture announced a nationwide recall of more than 12 million pounds of raw beef due to new concerns over possible salmonella contamination.
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Engineering Proteins for Use in … Everything
Proteins are an essential part of life, present in just about every living thing on Earth. But they aren’t perfect. As natural things, they have their limitations. They are limited in terms of what they can do....
Microsoft is Coming for Agriculture. Is That a Good Thing?
Here’s a headline I didn’t expect to see: “Microsoft Bringing AI to Ag.” From the author of that headline in Farm Journal: “Standing before a crowd of farmers at the 2018 Farm Journal AgTech Expo, keynote speaker...
My New Year’s Resolution for 2019
The end of the year is a time to sit, relax with family and be happy for what you’ve accomplished over the last 12 months.
It’s also a time to give thanks for all of the advantages...
Are We Really Ready for Genetic Testing?
There’s a lot we still don’t know about the power of genetic testing. For one thing, it’s becoming more powerful than ever expected. Already, patients can get gene-based information about their cancer risk, for instance, as well...
Here’s Why There is No ‘Next Silicon Valley’
Is Silicon Valley really “out of ideas”? It is according to Peter Thiel, one of the co-founders of PayPal and today one of the most influential and outspoken venture capitalists in the Bay Area.
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Food 2.0: Genetic Engineering Our Way to the High-Performing Crops of Tomorrow
It all started with the lowly tomato.
One of the original North American food crops, Europeans first started cultivating tomatoes with the help of Native Americans in the 17th century. As a food...
Bonumose: U.S. Patent to be Issued for “Enzymatic Production of D-Tagatose”
On September 21, 2018, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued Bonumose LLC a Notice of Allowance on its patent application for “Enzymatic Production of D-Tagatose.” The USPTO’s action recognizes the importance of Bonumose’s unique process for...
Investing with Impact: The New Rules of Making a Difference
iSelect was not conceived as an impact investment fund. When we started the idea was (and continues to be) to find the best and brightest entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley and make lots of small bets investing...
Enabling the Next Generation of Healthcare IT
It’s been a long time coming, but technology is finally transforming the healthcare industry, enabling functions and services that were all but unimaginable just a few years ago. Case in point: data.
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Who Has Your DNA? Why Data Privacy Is the Next Battleground in Consumer Genetics
Genetics is changing the world as we know it, and not only in the realm of healthcare and medical science. Whether it’s 23andMe delivering specific details about our ancestry, genetic science being used to united people who...
Humanity Is Dehydrated, and It Doesn’t Even Know It Yet
One thing is for sure: we’re not drinking enough water. None of us. And it’s damaging our health. That was the message of a recent article in The New York Times.
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Entrepreneurs, Innovation … and the Pursuit of Happiness
As an entrepreneur, July 4th is sort of like Christmas for me. Christmas in the sense that it’s a celebration of one of my personal beliefs: that the individual is capable of unlimited things.
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Lost Causes and the Power of Innovation
Innovation is about more than just apps, SaaS and the Internet of Things. It’s also about cutting-edge medical treatments. It’s about taking on the most difficult cases. It’s about making the world a better place.
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Paying It Forward: Experienced CEOs Are Bringing Their Talents Back to Startups
Startups need more than just investment. They also need experience. Experience in their markets. Experience growing and leading a team. Experience developing and marketing a product. But, that is often the one thing that most founders lack....
Forget Cryptocurrencies. The Real Opportunities are in Entrepreneurship
It seems like everyone is pitching a new cryptocurrency “investment” these days.
Telegram raised more than $1.5 billion in an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) this year, and startups like Dragon, Filecoin and Tezos...
Meet the iSelect Philanthropy Partner: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no...
Food Insecurity Is the Biggest Threat to Life On Earth, Except That it Isn’t
Are we running out of food?
The short answer is yes. As of 2016, there were roughly 815 million undernourished people in the world. Beyond that, several billion suffer levels of...
MIT OpenAg Is the Future of Agriculture. Here’s How We’re Helping
The MIT Media Lab is reimagining the food supply. It’s called the Open Agriculture Initiative (OpenAg) and it is staffed by a team of researchers that has been working since 2014 to create healthier, more engaging, and...
