Theranos

[ucodegen]

[quote=spdrun]Small nit to pick 🙂

6.022 x 10^23 molecules = 1 mole.
[/quote]
Yep, I know
[quote=spdrun]
1 cc = approx 1 gram of water.

Water is approximately 18 grams per mole.

Therefore, 1cc =~ 1/18 mole or 3.34×10^22 molecules.
[/quote]
noted that I was off (typing too fast). 8(
[quote=spdrun]
Rest of your point stands … though even though there are a lot of molecules available in 1cc of blood, the tests for them have to actually be accurate. The accuracy, not the availablilty of molecules to test seems to be at issue here.[/quote]
It was supposed to work on the ‘nano’ level, meaning that there would be plenty of molecules and it should be sensitive enough to function. It is an interesting idea, however I think it was also rushed to market. I don’t know if they tested for cross-response on the sensing sites (which could bind/respond to something else than the intended target). I also think that intentionally sticking with the idea of only using a fingerprick of blood was a bad idea (source blood purity). I hope that the tech still finds its way to improvement and does not get grabbed by the COO (Ramesh Sunny Balwani) who was definitely part of the problem. She has admitted her fault, paid a price, surrendered her shares. He is still claiming that there was no fraud and holding onto his shares.

The company ‘Theranos’ still has a lot of money from earlier funding efforts. Something around 700Mil. Most of the tech rights may end up going to these bond holders as a result of BK.

This is kind of the direction Theranos was ‘supposedly’ heading. I would need to do a patent check to verify if that was actually where they were going.
http://www.pnas.org/content/100/3/820
https://sensing.xprize.org/teams/competition-1-teams/programmable-bio-nano-chip

[njtosd]

From what I’ve read, about 2-3ml of blood is the minimum necessary for most blood tests. Some tests require more. This is a good article about the challenges of using finger-stick blood: https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i1/Blood-tests-fingertips.html

DNA testing can be done on very small samples because the DNA is amplified using PCR – without PCR those small amounts would be insufficient for testing. The finger clip that tests for oxygen and pulse is based on light transmission – again, totally different technologies.

One thing that always made me question Theranos is that they kept saying that their technology was super secret – for years. Generally speaking, before a company discloses an invention to anyone for any reason (counsulting, investment, manufacturing, sourcing parts ,etc) they file a patent application. Since it is impossible not to work with consultants, etc, these applications are filed early. Under most circumstances, if that application moves beyond the provisional filing (meaning anything that continues to be commercially viable), the application is published after 18 months. So most companies working at the pace that Theranos claimed to be could only keep things secret for 18 months. And even if an application is not available to the public, it can be disclosed privately under an NDA. But Theranos continued to keep this “big secret” for years and people believed them without asking the simplest questions. Walgreens invested $140 million. Considering that this was a patent driven device, why didn’t anyone talk to a patent attorney? As the saying goes, you can’t cheat an honest man. These investor groups rushed in because they thought they had the equivalent of insider information (though it wasn’t a public company). It is a Madoff-like situation.

[njtosd]

PS Just looked at a brief summary of Theranos’ patents, etc. very little was filed before 2011.

[Anonymous]

Lol, and here we see how scams can grow to such massive size.

Even after they’ve been exposed as complete shams, many people still speak about them as if they had some legitimacy.

Of course Theranos had patents: “assets” blessed by a government agency.

And let’s not forget about those CDOs during the housing bubble. After all they had AAA ratings….

[FlyerInHi]

Holmes once topped a Forbes list of the world’s youngest, self-made, female billionaires for her health-care company. Now she allegedly can’t pay her legal fees.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/05/more-bad-blood-theranos-founder-elizabeth-holmes-this-time-with-her-own-attorneys/

[joec]

I’ve always found this story fascinating and how it all went down…I watched the HBO special as well.

Not surprising that she’s not getting much $$ after swindling so many people.

Surprised she’s dating some younger heir.

[Author]

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