Today I attended a Caltech alumni event and had the great pleasure of meeting Dr. Leroy Hood, MD, PhD, who was recently awarded the National Medal of Science . He invented the first DNA sequencing technology and founded the fields of genomics (sequencing, assembling, and analyzing the function and structure of genomes) and proteomics (the study of large-scale proteins, particularly their structures and functions).

This brilliant doctor and decorated scientist has cofounded a startup company that is planning to market a blood test for early detection of lung cancer later this year. The science has yet to be published (due to understandable intellectual property concerns), but based on Hood’s prior accomplishments, I’m very hopeful this venture has a genuinely useful product to offer. Here are a couple of articles I found indicating this venture is real:

InDi, Lee Hood’s Vision for Spotting Cancer in Blood, Snags $10M

Integrated Diagnostics(R) Appoints CFO & VP Sales Prior to Launch of Lung Cancer Diagnostic