Start-ups focusing on these efforts attracted more than $500 million in Series A funding in 2022.
Integrated omics. Researchers continue to lack a complete understanding of the factors involved in complex polygenic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Very large omics data sets have been collected (for example, UK Biobank), but identifying actionable insights from this data remains challenging. ML models can integrate these large data sets to gain a deeper understanding of disease mechanisms and uncover new molecular targets. Several biotechs have also been incorporating advanced microscopy and imaging technologies in hopes of better visualizing disease processes in real time and incorporating these findings into their models. Others are tackling the remaining questions about the function of the dark, or noncoding, genome in disease pathology. Start-ups focusing on these efforts attracted more than $500 million in Series A funding in 2022.