Imagine being able to search your genes just like you search on Google. Boston-based startup Bystro offers an AI-powered genomic research assistant that analyzes complex DNA data and delivers insights in plain language, giving individuals and researchers a deeper understanding of their health and promising to revolutionize precision medicine.
- A search engine for your DNA
- What is Bystro?
- The brains behind Bystro: The founders’ story
- Personal experience: Life-changing discoveries
- How does the «ChatGPT for genes» work?
- Potential applications and target audience
- AI in healthcare: Opportunities and concerns
- Privacy concerns: Is your DNA data safe?
- FAQs
A search engine for your DNA
Its founders describe it as Google Search or ChatGPT, but for your DNA. At its core, the Bystro platform allows users to ask direct questions to their genes.
«Why am I not responding well to my medication?»
«Why do I have high testosterone?»
«Why do I suffer from frequent bouts of gout?»
Instead of receiving generic and sometimes alarming information from sites like WebMD—whose potential diagnoses can range from the common cold to cancer—the platform generates answers based strictly on the user’s genetic makeup.
What is Bystro?
Bystro is an AI-powered genomic research assistant being developed in Boston. The startup combines elements of ancestry analysis sites like Ancestry.com, search engines, and primary healthcare into results that are understandable for researchers, physicians, and individuals. Bystro joins a growing wave of services providing direct-to-consumer genetics, ranging from ancestral roots to health screenings.
Bystro has the ability to translate DNA data ranging from just a single individual to a dataset of hundreds of thousands of people. If it reaches its full potential, one of its co-founders believes it could «change precision medicine worldwide».
The brains behind Bystro: The founders’ story
Alex Kotlar, CEO and co-founder of Bystro, traces his interest in health and genetics back to his early years as a Ukrainian immigrant whose family fled the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Family members increasingly developed cancer in the years that followed. Kotlar grew up being told he had a 50% increased risk of developing cancer during his lifetime.
After facing his own health issues, Kotlar, 39, decided to pursue a PhD in genetics at Emory University. That is where the seeds of Bystro were planted. Kotlar says: «I had an idea to create a Google-like search engine for genetics. I saw what Google was able to do… and I thought, well, I can do that for genetics».
He met Cristina Trevino, 35, at Emory, where she was also studying genetics. She was immediately drawn to the idea, saying: «I want genetics to be accessible to everyone. It shouldn’t be locked behind all these hard-to-use software programs».
Personal experience: Life-changing discoveries
The founding trio is completed by Mason Alban, 38, who came from an unexpected background as an actor. Alban suffered from chronic lethargy, fatigue, gout, and hearing loss, and visited doctors all over Boston without getting concrete answers. When he ran his DNA through Bystro, he was «blown away».
Alban explained that Bystro revealed he had specific genetic variants that contributed to his hearing loss, as well as another variant that affected his response to a prescribed gout medication. He also learned for the first time in his life that he was lactose intolerant. When he stopped consuming dairy products, he felt significantly better. Alban says the company’s goal is to «give everyone the power to control their own health».
How does the «ChatGPT for genes» work?
Bystro analyzes complex DNA data—which someone without advanced education in genetics likely could not access—and then delivers insights in plain language based on user queries. It allows people to ask a series of questions about a set of DNA, and in return, receive specific answers regarding genetic observations, potential diagnoses, risk prediction, medications, ancestry, and more.
Kotlar says: «A person doesn’t come with an instruction manual. Every person is unique. And so if you’re already doing personalized treatments and diagnostics, you need to be able to respond dynamically to that person’s unique profile».
Potential applications and target audience
Bystro is still in its early launch stages, and the team’s goal is to see the platform offered to researchers and universities, then physicians, and then individual users. The team is already contracting with Emory University, the University of California, Davis, and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics Consortium.
Importantly, every response generated by Bystro comes with a disclaimer: results should be reviewed with a physician or clinical pharmacist with expertise. It should not be used for self-diagnosis and self-treatment. Kotlar emphasizes: «You should definitely talk to your doctor about this. (Bystro) is a personal research tool».
AI in healthcare: Opportunities and concerns
Artificial intelligence is already on track to reshape healthcare globally. Estimates suggest the global market could reach $187.7 billion by 2030. AI is increasingly used in hospitals, ranging from interpreting results to drafting patient notes and analyzing scans.
However, the rise of AI in healthcare has not been without controversy, particularly debates regarding ethics, potential inaccuracies, and data privacy concerns. Some fear that AI will eventually be used to replace the expertise and touch of human medical professionals.
Privacy concerns: Is your DNA data safe?
People are concerned about privacy in the age of AI. Medical data is extremely sensitive, and DNA in particular is attractive to hackers because it cannot be changed, unlike passwords or credit card numbers. Bystro’s launch also comes on the heels of 23andMe’s bankruptcy filing earlier this year following a data breach.
Kotlar acknowledges these concerns. He says Bystro does not retain the raw genetic data that feeds the platform’s results. He explains: «It gets deleted immediately. It gets converted into the format Bystro needs and then discarded. And the dataset that exists is your dataset. It’s like you uploaded something to Google Drive, and you can simply delete it». He adds that AI platforms do not yet have a secure way to store DNA information on their servers, and Bystro will not do so until it has a secure way to do so.
FAQs
What is Bystro?
It is an AI platform functioning as a gene search engine, allowing users to ask questions about their DNA and get personalized answers related to health, medications, and genetic risks.
Can Bystro be relied upon for medical diagnosis?
No. The company emphasizes that Bystro is a personal research tool, and all results should be reviewed with a specialist physician. It should not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment.
How does Bystro protect DNA data privacy?
The company states that it does not retain raw DNA data. The data is converted into the format required by the platform and the original data is deleted immediately, and the user can delete their dataset at any time.
Who can use Bystro?
The platform currently targets researchers, universities, and physicians, but the ultimate goal is to make it available to individual users who want a deeper understanding of their genes and health.
