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uBiome is jumping into therapeutics with a healthy $83 million in Series C financing

uBiome is jumping into therapeutics with a healthy million in Series C financing 23andMe, IBM and now uBiome is the next tech company to jump into the lucrative multi-billion dollar drug discovery market. The company started out with a consumer gut health test to check whether your intestines carry the right kind of bacteria for healthy digestion but has since expanded to include over 250,000 samples for everything from the microbes on your skin to vaginal health — the largest data set in the world for these types of samples,…

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Not to be overshadowed by the Apple Watch, AliveCor announces a new 6-lead ECG reader

Not to be overshadowed by the Apple Watch, AliveCor announces a new 6-lead ECG reader Apple’s announcement last week of a Watch with an FDA-approved ECG reader to track heart health looked to be the undoing of original ECG reader company AliveCor. But, to prove it still has a hearty pulse, AliveCor tells TechCrunch it is coming out with a “never-before-seen” 6-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), pending FDA approval. In a care clinic, a patient typically has 12 leads, or stickers placed across their chest to pick up data from their heart….

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Kegel trainer startup Elvie is launching a smaller, smarter, hands-free breast pump

Kegel trainer startup Elvie is launching a smaller, smarter, hands-free breast pump Elvie, a Berlin-based startup known best for its connected Kegel trainer is jumping into the breast pump business with a new $480 hands-free system you can slip into your bra. Even with all the innovation in baby gear, breast pumps have mostly sucked (pun intended) for new moms for the past half a century. My first experience with a pump required me to stay near a wall socket and hunch over for a good twenty to thirty minutes…

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Apple’s Watch isn’t the first with an EKG reader but it will matter to more consumers

Apple’s Watch isn’t the first with an EKG reader but it will matter to more consumers Apple’s COO Jeff Williams exuberantly proclaimed Apple’s Watch was the first to get FDA clearance as an over-the-counter electrocardiogram (EKG) reader during the special event at Apple headquarters on Wednesday. While Apple loves to be first to things, that statement is false. AliveCor has held the title of first since late last year for its KardiaMobile device, a $100 stick-like metal unit you attach to the back of a smartphone. Ironically, it also received FDA…

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Google Street View cars will be roaming around the planet to check our air quality with these sensors

Google Street View cars will be roaming around the planet to check our air quality with these sensors Aclima, a San Francisco-based startup building Internet-connected air quality sensors has announced plans to integrate its mobile sensing platform into Google’s global fleet of Street View vehicles. Google uses the Street View cars to map the land for Google Maps. Starting with 50 cars in Houston, Mexico City and Sydney, Aclima will capture air quality data by generating snapshots of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2),…

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Nutrigene wants to personalize your vitamins using your genetic code

Nutrigene wants to personalize your vitamins using your genetic code Vitamins are proving to be a lucrative industry in the United States. Just last year vitamin sales pulled in roughly $37 billion for the U.S. economy. That’s up from $28 billion in 2010. To cash in on this growing market, several startups have popped up in the last few years — including Nutrigene, a startup combining the vitamin business with another lucrative avenue of revenue in consumer DNA analysis. Nutrigene believes your genes may hold the secret to what you might…

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These two CRISPR experts are coming to Disrupt SF 2018

These two CRISPR experts are coming to Disrupt SF 2018 CRISPR, the gene-editing system that could one day change the course of humanity still has a long way to go before we seriously alter anything but it’s not too far-fetched to say it could happen. What’s real and what’s not and just how close are we to radically changing our food supply, medicine and life as we know it as human beings? We’re going to get into all that with Trevor Martin, the co-founder of Mammoth Biosciences and Rachel Haurwitz,…

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The Amazonization of Whole Foods, one year in

The Amazonization of Whole Foods, one year in Amazon promised to breathe new tech into the relationship with Whole Foods after putting a $13.7 billion ring on it one year ago. So how did that promise shake out? At the time, Amazon said the goal was to make “high-quality, natural and organic food affordable for everyone.” Bananas, avocados and even tilapia was going to be cheaper than before. Prime members would receive increased benefits with discount rewards and Amazon drones would be delivering packages right to your door. Okay, that last bit…

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Twitter hints at new threaded conversations and who’s online features

Twitter hints at new threaded conversations and who’s online features Twitter head Jack Dorsey sent out a tweet this afternoon hinting the social platform might get a couple of interesting updates to tell us who else is currently online and to help us more easily follow Twitter conversation threads. “Playing with some new Twitter features: presence (who else is on Twitter right now?) and threading (easier to read convos),” Dorsey tweeted, along with samples. The “presence” feature would make it easier to engage with those you follow who are online…

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Taking a spin with Garmin’s vivosmart 4 activity tracker, out today

Taking a spin with Garmin’s vivosmart 4 activity tracker, out today Garmin continues to go head-to-head with Fitbit with the launch of its latest offering — the vivosmart 4 activity tracker. This sleek new wristband not only tracks steps, activities and gives you the weather but also comes with a blood oxygen sensor and will tell you how much energy you have saved up for your next full throttle burn session. That new body battery energy calculator estimates the body’s energy reserves to help you figure out when you feel…

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