Digitalis Ventures

Is the promise of stem cells finally being realized? From the minute an organism is born its cells and tissues are subject to an array of insults and injuries, some small and some major. While we have made progress on numerous fronts to prevent, treat, or slow many diseases, the holy grail remains regenerative therapies designed to replenish and repair tissue or organs impaired by disease, trauma, or congenital defects. Clinical trials deploying mesenchymal stem cells in companion animals with natural occurring diseases such as osteoarthritis are yielding important information on safety and efficacy that is benefiting animals and humans. Plus, why horses go grey with age, eye color evolution, dog talk and more. Read the latest Notes on Animal Health. #DigitalisVentures #NotesonAnimalHealth

The venture capital industry functions in large part on the belief that great innovators capture the lion’s share of value from their breakthroughs. So, in re-making the world, how much value do disruptive entrepreneurs actually capture from their innovations? PLUS: Haystacks of Needles; Complexity and Philosophy; The Middle Path to Innovation; Ramsey Theory: order from chaos; and The Information Theory of Aging

In the world of entrepreneurship, much of the game is played in an environment of uncertainty rather than risk. True uncertainty involves situations that are non-computable because we lack the information to calculate odds accurately. This is the land of the unknown and unknowable in which probabilities cannot be meaningfully assigned and thus the idea of probability itself becomes meaningless. PLUS: Biopiracy; the Fourth Dimension; Information theory and evolution; Organizing for innovation; and Making sense of chaos

Because the lifespans of our domestic pets are so much shorter than ours, inevitably pet owners experience the heartbreak of their death. But what if you could give your pet immortality, well, a type of immortality? Science has now given us the ability to clone our pets, and in doing so we can keep them alive, at least genetically, forever. But should we? PLUS: gorillas and food as medicine, pet-people pen pals, crocheted kitten hats, of dogs and dingoes, & the secret to a fast horse is in the gut.

A somewhat classic debate involves the question, is math a human invention or a natural phenomenon? The central role of geometry in both describing and explaining biology seems like a strong set of arguments that math is in fact a natural phenomenon, one that plays out across scales, from molecules to ecosystems. PLUS: Silicon Valley chasing utopia, general relativity in plain English, on thinkers and doers, and right and left-handedness, molecularly speaking.

Morphogenesis is the process by which organisms develop their specific dimensions and forms. It's nature's own sculpting technique, where cells organize themselves into tissues, organs, and entire bodies. In this month’s Notes on Engineering Health, read about the scientists whose interdisciplinary research could point the way to deeply impactful interventions such as the regeneration of organs, treatment of birth defects, and the amelioration of degenerative diseases. #research #science #biology #mathematics #innovation #healthsolutions

"If tool development catalyzes scientific discovery and discovery catalyzes medical innovation—how do we catalyze tool development?" This is the question at the heart of the latest edition of Notes On Catalyzing Health. #Research #Innovation #Investment #Science

New, promising approaches to treating cat allergies focus on reducing the active antigens that cause symptoms ranging from watery eyes to scratchy throats to respiratory distress. In the latest Notes on Animal Health, Cynthia Cole explores why so many of us suffer from pet allergies and methods for prevention and treatment. #Allergies #Pets #Dogs #Cats #Treatments

In this month's Notes on Engineering Health we explore slime mold, DNA computing, and the fascinating broader field of natural computing / unconventional computing, which explores novel substrates and methods for information processing beyond traditional silicon-based computers. PLUS: Five centuries of technical & social structures co-evolution, techno-optimism, a new framework for taming wicked problems, a novel financing tool, and ghosts in the machine. #slimemold #dnacomputing #unconventionalcomputing #naturalcomputing

LISTEN to Misti Ushio's interview with Kate Adams on #StartupSuccess to learn about her entrepreneurial journey from investor in life science companies to founder of the cardiovascular biotech firm TARA Biosystems to Managing Partner at Digitalis Ventures.  Also available on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. #entrepreneur #founder #womeninscience #leadership #venturecapital