Genomelink and LunaDNA Partner to Support Self-Discovery and Advance Science
25th April, 2019
Platforms unite to close the gap between individuals and research partners by positioning the individual at the center of health discovery
BERKELEY, Calif. — April 25, 2019 — Awakens, founder of DNA web platform Genomelink, announced today its partnership with LunaPBC, founder of LunaDNA, the first community-owned genomic and health data platform. Genomelink members are now able to upload their raw DNA data file onto the LunaDNA platform to help advance science and share in the value created from medical discoveries.
The partnership allows Awakens and LunaPBC to unite their shared mission and technologies to close the gap between individuals and research partners by positioning the individual at the center of health discovery. Awakens invites Genomelink members to participate in the new wave of people-powered health by becoming a pioneering member of LunaDNA and joining a health movement that’s reshaping the traditional health research model.
Genomelink members can now seamlessly join the LunaDNA community, contribute their health data onto LunaDNA’s private and secure platform, and earn shares in the organization. When monetary value is created from medical discoveries on the platform, that value flows back down to LunaDNA members in the form of dividends.
Genomelink is a web platform that helps members learn about their DNA data while ensuring ultimate transparency. It enables members to upload their raw DNA data file and discover more about their DNA identities and traits through intuitive visualization and scientific educational content. Genomelink’s dedicated science team updates its trait database weekly with curated research papers and academic literature that provides analysis for over 352 traits in five categories: food & nutrition, personality, cognitive, fitness, and physical traits. The research database enables users to discover new trait reports every week.
“Awakens believes personal DNA engagement should be a life-long journey for individuals and their families because the knowledge embedded in our DNA is continuously being discovered. Genomelink members are curious about their DNA data and eager to learn more. Over 50% of our members visit Genomelink’s trait database on a regular basis to view content and discover more about their DNA. LunaDNA’s people-first principles offers members a new way to help advance science and the shared history between our teams made them the clear partner choice for our members,” said Tomohiro Takano, CEO and co-founder, Awakens.
In December 2018, LunaDNA received precedent-setting approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to recognize an individual's health data as currency with which to acquire shares of ownership in the company. Researchers from nonprofits, for-profits, disease organizations, and research communities can request access to the LunaDNA platform to conduct research studies. LunaDNA members' de-identified, aggregated, and encrypted health data helps power research at the scope and scale needed for medical breakthroughs.
“We are excited to see organizations like Awakens recognizing that modern data stewardship means individuals must come first. People coming together at scale as a data sharing community represents the next frontier in making research more efficient, inclusive, and informative, but it requires earning people’s trust through transparency, reciprocity, and honoring their control at all times,” said Dawn Barry, president and co-founder, LunaPBC.
“Individual control over how our genetic and health information is aggregated, analyzed, and used is critical as we gain even more insights into the links between DNA, ancestry, and health outcomes. People have historically had to make a trade-off between control of their information and the potential for research and discovery. It is so exciting to see companies such as Luna and Awakens putting power in the hands of people and honoring their desire to improve human health through data sharing with controlled access,” said Carlos D. Bustamante, an advisor to both companies, professor of biomedical data science and genetics at Stanford University, founder of CDB Consulting LTD, and venture partner at F-Prime Capital.
To learn more about this partnership and how you can get involved, visit https://learn.lunadna.com/genomelink/.
About Awakens
Awakens’s mission is creating an infrastructure in Consumer Genomics. The company was founded in 2017 by three Japanese founders (Tomohiro Takano, Yuta Matsuda, Kensuke Numakura) who worked in genomics space in Japan for years, including M3, Inc., DeNA, and P5, Inc., which was founded as a joint venture of SONY and Illumina. Awakens launched Genomelink in Aug 2017, and the platform has now become one of the largest and fastest growing DNA-uploading platforms focusing on non-ancestry and non-medical, but the comprehensive lifestyle and DNA identity related trait analysis*. Awakens is a graduate of Berkeley SkyDeck accelerator and backed by investors including Global Brain, Digital Garage, Sony Innovation Fund, IronFire Ventures, 500 Startups Japan among others.
About LunaDNA
LunaDNA is the first health and genomic data platform owned by its community of personal health information donors. LunaDNA empowers individuals to share their health data for medical research and the greater good of the community. As community owners in the LunaDNA platform, members share in the value created from health discoveries and medical breakthroughs.
LunaDNA was created by the privately-owned Public Benefit Corporation, LunaPBC, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Solana Beach, California. The LunaPBC team, investors, and advisors are renowned in the patient-advocacy, health, and science fields, including several former chief executives of Illumina, industry academics, and financial executives.
For more information visit www.lunadna.com.
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Contact:
Katie Grant
BAM Communications
858-284-7768
katieg@bamcommunications.biz
