Google X: Mysterious Early Detection System for Diseases Unveiled

Release date: 2014-11-05

The two-year life sciences project at Google X Labs has been very mysterious and rarely interviewed by the media. Recently, project leader Andrew Conrad explained their project in detail in an interview with BACKCHANNEL. They invented a nanoparticle, a computing chip with 360,000 sensors, which is about two thousandths the size of red blood cells. When they enter the human body, they can be adsorbed on particles such as cancer cells and transmitted back through the wearable devices on the body. Information, once the cancer cells are found, immediately alert. The greatest value of the project is to transform medical services from traditional passive response to active prevention. This seems to be about subverting the entire medical industry.

Originally written by Medium, author Steven Levy, translated by Yang Zijia, Chi Longfei, Zhao Saipo and Zhao Yunfeng of the heart of the machine.

Andrew Conrad, head of the life sciences team at Google X Labs, is leading the development of an early detection technology for disease that will change the existing medical landscape.

Sometimes, the lofty dream comes from the slightest breakthrough, small enough to shuttle the blood circulation of the human body and promptly warn when the danger occurs. This is the vision promised by Andrew Conrad, who had a background in meticulous medical research in March 2013, when he joined Google X Labs, when he just ended his legendary medical research career. Now he will show us the details of these visions and show that the experiments that turn these wishes into reality are going smoothly.

Basically, Google X is creating an early detection system for diseases that contains some special nanoparticles that can be absorbed, which can locate the signs of disease molecular levels. Once the nanoparticles discover these tiny destroyers (such as cancer cells), they send out signals that are received by the worn bracelet. Early warning means that potentially lethal diseases can be detected as early as possible, and they can be terminated with minimal treatment. Andrew Conrad believes that in the near future, all people will take this (including nanoparticles) tablets and wear such devices, whether they are healthy or not.

Andrew Conrad’s past performance made us have to take a serious look at Google X’s work. In the 1990s, the achievements of this molecular biologist saved us a lot of time and cost in testing HIV or other viruses when donating blood and plasma. He has been pioneering research as the chief scientist of LabCorp, but after Google worked with Sergey Brin and others for some time, he decided to go to the advanced Google X Lab with ample financial support to carry out some more. For bold research, this lab is the birthplace of projects such as driverless cars, Google Glass and Google Balloons.

Andrew Conrad’s Google X Lab Life Sciences department is made up of more than 100 researchers, including top chemists, scientists, biologists, and experts in machine learning and data mining. Earlier, Google issued a statement that Google X Labs Life Sciences was hosting a project called "Baseline Study," which involved 175 health professionals (and subsequently expanded). The study uses genetic and molecular techniques to analyze the meaning of "health" - which allows for better early detection of dangerous mutations. The project has made great progress in close cooperation with Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other colleges. Another project of the Department of Life Sciences is to implant sensors and microelectronic chips into contact lenses to diagnose diabetes by detecting glucose levels in the lacrimal gland.

Andrew Conrad, a 50-year-old surf madman with a golden goatee, has a strange sense of humor. He talked about his new project in a rare interview with BACKCHANNEL and introduced what his team did at Google X Lab. The following is the content of the interview (S is the interviewer, A is Andrew Conrad):

S: You claim to have an ambitious project, including nanoparticles, wearables, and big data. Is this why you joined Google X Labs?

A: The more reason is that they want me to do this. Health care is a big problem, and the main purpose of Google X Lab is to solve such big problems. Sergey Brin said to me: "Come to Google X Lab, try some crazy things, do something that can change ten times."

S: You have a legendary career. I think you must have countless choices at the beginning.

A: I was not unemployed at the time, and I didn't worry about such a problem. In fact, I had a very good time. But joining Google is also an opportunity to completely create something. I can foresee this from my heart, so I was completely prepared to make changes. We know that doing this kind of thing requires seeking external cooperation, but I think Google X Lab is a big enough stage for us to make some attempts. This is an idea to make a tenfold change, which is very interesting and challenging – how do you do things that can change ten times? It's about dreams and ambitions.

S: But at the same time, it is also facing the risk of ten times failure, right?

A: Yes, but this kind of failure is not terrible, because even if I fail, I can rejoice happily. I can go back to Hawaii and desperately enjoy surfing. So the risk of failure doesn't scare me, let alone the opportunity to do something that really affects the world.

S: Then tell us how this project started.

A: In the past 2000 years, medical services have been a passive, transaction-oriented system. After you are ill, go to the doctor. He will give you a prescription, make a prescription or do some treatment, and then let you go home. But when people get seriously ill, they often go to the doctor when the condition is very serious. In fact, most cancer patients are diagnosed after advanced symptoms and clinical symptoms. Some patients can be diagnosed with a success rate of 90% if they are diagnosed in the first phase of cancer. However, most patients diagnosed in the fourth phase have a cure success rate of only 5% to 10%. We always diagnose cancer at an inappropriate time, which is equivalent to the car waiting for the cylinder to change the oil. You can compare it to a car, airplane or other complex system. It turns out that pre-existing maintenance work is undoubtedly a better maintenance model. But so far, for some reason, in Western medicine we have not focused on prevention beforehand. Therefore, the core theory of our medical services is flawed. Therefore, we have to try to see if we can transform the medical service system from passive mode to prevention mode through collaboration.

S: How did you start this research?

A: The first thing we need to understand is that the disease has existed before it develops to clinical symptoms. They are usually mild and undetectable, and most people don't feel the disease for most of the time. This means that monitoring of the body must be continuous, and people must be monitored 24/7, because when people go to the doctor for an annual medical examination or when they are sick – some people go to see it once in a decade and lose a lot of opportunities to monitor the underlying disease. Therefore, we have to create a device that can be operated around the clock for monitoring. Because of the constant measurement, this requires the device to be easy to wear, right? Can you imagine that you carry a device with a radar antenna that weighs six pounds on your head and tie you every four seconds? The people will not agree.

Therefore, the fundamental solution is to jump out of the above state - "When the tumor has emerged in the chest, I realize that I am going to see a doctor." We should adopt a continuous biomarker continuous treatment program with non-invasive medical equipment. We can do this with a miniature electronic monitoring device. We made a very small computing chip with 360,000 sensors, which is about the same size as a bright spot. Among other solutions, one is to functionalize the nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are the smallest engineering particles you can make. Natural laws also work at the molecular or cellular level. But in the past two thousand years, our medical diagnosis has remained at the organ or tissue level. This is not the right solution. Imagine how do you portray Parisian culture on a plane flying over Paris? You can only describe how the city looks like, such as a tower and a river running through the city centre. In fact, this approach is not able to help you understand the culture of Paris. The same is true when we look at the complex system of the human body – you can probably observe this system, but unless you can observe it on the level of micro-reaction, you will not be able to figure out how it works.

We came to this idea when we realized that nanotechnology, microelectronics, and continuous measurement of biometrics were all feasible. Therefore, we no longer have to deal with doctors who can only say "first blood test, if I find any problem within three days I will call you", and instead will be "Hey, I have thoroughly checked the past." Your blood condition in a year, it seems that your kidneys and liver perform well. I have not found any signs of tumor cells, very good, thank you!" In Google, "Star Trek" is our guiding light, because They use a computer called the Tricorder - you can talk to it and it can answer any questions you have. This is what Google X is really looking for. We hope to have a three-recorder like this. With it, Dr. McCoy (Star Trek) can shout a machine and shout "Ah, you have a heat of alfalfa." He only needs to The patient's neck is injected several times and the patient will get better soon. We won't do this - our partners can do it. But we really hope to create a "three-recorder."

S: Can you describe your system?

A: The nanoparticle platform we are talking about is essentially the same: you swallow a small capsule filled with nanoparticles that is absorbed by your body and enters the blood circulation system. These nanoparticles are smaller than one thousandth of the red blood cells. They are small enough to penetrate all parts of the body, they flow through the blood and immune systems and move around. They are very mild particles - many of these nanoparticles have been approved by the FDA for imaging and filling, because their main component is iron oxide, just like the iron tablets you take every day. They can be modified by proteins, amino acids, and DNA to bind more tightly to the target.

The nanoparticles are very small, and one common red blood cell is equivalent to 2000 nanoparticles. Nanoparticles migrate in the blood and bind tightly to specific cells such as cancer cells in the circulatory system. A wearable device can detect nanoparticles and provide useful information to the doctor.

S: So, will the introduction of these nanoparticles into the human body cause some unexpected problems?

A: No. In fact these nanoparticles have been tested for a long time and ultimately ensure safety. Here's a trick, it will do some clever things under the decoration of some smarter cells.

S: You said that you need to modify these nanoparticles, I doubt how you did it.

A: This needs to be done by chemical means. The main component of the nanoparticles is iron oxide. You can get a small batch of such small particles, but you can't see the individual individuals, but you can take a spoonful of such particles mixed with the polymer, just like putting a coat on them. With this coat, they can attach to the surface of other objects.

S: So you have the genetic nanoparticle, which can be used to locate various disease labels after modifying its surface.

A: Yes. You can use these nanoparticles to monitor rare things like cancer cells, and to measure the size of common molecules. For example, once we apply a substance that can detect sodium to the surface of nanoparticles, a common molecule that is important for the treatment of kidney disease. When sodium contacts the nanoparticles, it causes it to emit different colors of fluorescence. When these nanoparticles are gathered at your wrist, the device worn on your wrist can detect these changes, and we can see the color of their glow, so you know how much sodium is concentrated. As another example, you can see if the nanoparticles are tightly bound to cancer cells by a magnet on your wrist. It's like we sent many messengers to the streets of Paris, and finally recalled them all to the central assembly point, asking them what they saw, what they had done, what they had encountered. Imagine this is the way we try to understand French culture.

S: When these nanoparticles are summoned back, will they not block at my wrist?

A: No. Two thousand such nanoparticles are just one red cell size. At any time, there are millions of red blood cells in your wrist. If we recall all the nanoparticles that are deployed in the capsule to the wrist, there may be some minor effects. At the same time, they are very powerful magnetic nanoparticles composed of iron oxide elements. When you remove the magnetic environment, they lose their magnetism and disappear without a trace. Frankly, you only need to call them back to the wrist for an hour each day, or call them to the wrist for one minute each hour, depending on the algorithm you want to use.

S: What is the error rate?

A: This has to go back to our "Baseline study." We are observing thousands of healthy people and doing everything we can to try to answer questions like "How many cancer cells should be in a healthy person" is zero, one or ten, I don't know. Because cancer cells may always be present in our bodies, our immune system will kill them. So if you really want to do something, you need to have real data as a basis. The “Baseline study” contains a large number of healthy people to meet the data requirements of such research. We also have monitoring equipment on them to make sure we know what to do when someone is sick.

S: How much data collection have you completed now?

A: We have accumulated a lot of data, and we are full of confidence in the feasibility of this matter. At the Google X Labs facility, we can make nanoparticles and modify them to prove that they fit well with what we want in an artificial intelligence system. We created a model arm that can extract artificial blood and monitor the nanoparticles using equipment. We are very good at picking and monitoring nanoparticles, while also ensuring that they are only connected to cancer cells, not others. Remember the sodium experiment I just mentioned? I am talking about real data, we have made particles that can measure small molecules.

S: So you talked about the four components of the system—output, positioning, monitoring, and calculation. Do you understand the meaning of each part?

A: Yes, we have a lot of convincing experiments to prove these four parts.

S: A few days ago I talked to two people who worked with you, Dr. Sam Gambhir of Stanford, Dr. Robert Langer of MIT, who were very interested in this project, but stressed that in output, monitoring and other aspects There are many challenges. They have long been optimistic, but they have not shown your affirmation.

A: I don't want to make a very positive answer anyway. There is still a long way to go from laboratory certification to live testing. In the laboratory stage, we have tried our best. We know that most of them are successful: we are already very good at modifying and picking up nanoparticles, and figuring out their behavior in magnetic fields. There are also a lot of surprises about the human body, but it is still far from implanting drugs in the human body. This experiment must be conducted in public, and people will wear these devices in the Baseline study to experiment. I believe it will take several years, but not more than 10 years.

S: Why don't you experiment on animals?

A: Animals are not needed for this experiment because these drugs are well known. I think we have a lot of evidence that this proposal is unmistakable, at least probably right. But we still have a lot to do, so we work with Stanford and MIT. Finally, we have found more partners that can help us take a big step forward.

S: Have you applied for a patent?

A: Yes, the main part of the patent will be published around the next month. It describes some of the very detailed issues we are discussing.

S: Does this mean that you will commercialize these results? Even if these are long-term plans for Google X, would you authorize it externally?

A: Yes, our contact lens research (contact lens is a contact lens developed by Google X Lab. It can monitor the sugar contained in diabetic tears after wearing, and let the patient control their blood sugar level at any time.) Authorized to Novartis (pharmaceutical company), this is a win-win situation. Novartis is very good at this, they further develop contact lenses, and with some new drugs and diagnostic methods to bring it to the world.

S: Have you ever thought that there will be some obstacles in this process? I can imagine someone saying: I won't let Google put things in my body.

A: Remember, most rational people will let pharmaceutical companies put things in their own blood. Do you think that the thing of swallowing pills is not putting things?

S: But this has to be treated differently. I have a headache and can take a pill. I need chemotherapy if I have cancer. But if you let a healthy person take medicine and say "this will protect you", that is another matter.

A: This is a good point, but imagine the first people who participated in the experiment...

S: For example, Sergey Brin and Pete Tell (founder of PayPal, investor)?

A: (laughs), the first to use this may be breast cancer patients, they are worried about recurrence. Half of the patients will experience recurrence within 5 years, but if they can be treated early? Maybe you don't need 8 courses of chemotherapy, but only one course of treatment. I bet there will be a lot of breast cancer patients willing to participate. Imagine that when these women use the device and output a report, they can detect signs of recurrence 8 months in advance, and the treatment will increase by 47% compared to the past. I am sure most people will be willing to participate. Then there is a high-risk group of breast cancer, telling them that even if you haven't got it, you should be involved. This is why we need to find partners, there will be many excellent pharmaceutical companies willing to promote this concept. We will be a technology pioneer, we have disruptive innovations, and we are looking for partners who can carry it forward.

S: In addition to locating and detecting known diseases, what other benefits does the system have?

A: If we and our partners can make these nanoparticles adsorb on the tumor, then we have a way to deal with them, right?

S: Is this in line with the development strategy of our project?

A: Yes. The mission of the Google X Life Sciences project is to transform healthcare from a reactive response to a proactive approach. Ultimately, the project will extend the life expectancy of humans through disease prevention, enabling us to live longer and healthier.

S: It sounds like we have a coincidence with Calico, another Google-based health company, a company that has been researching aging problems. Is there any cooperation with them?

A: There are still some subtle differences between the two. Calico's goal is to pursue a longer life and to make us live longer by studying ways to delay aging. And our goal is to extend the lifespan of most people by treating life-threatening diseases.

S: Fundamentally, in helping me to extend my life, do you complete the previous tasks and then take the Calico pick?

A: That's it! We help you extend your life to the stage where Calico can get involved and play a bigger role.

S: Do all the data you collect need to be aggregated and analyzed to generate new insights?

A: Of course, imagine that every patient at Stanford University uses this device. Understanding the patient's new presentation of the disease and the molecular state is important to help doctors make conclusions that are very different from those in other settings. Now, physicians can pat their chests and say, “If you have a 17% increase in one of your indicators, will it have a substantial, clinical effect? ​​Let me look at all patients who have had a 17% increase last year. Well, no one has any clinical sequelae, it may be just a little noise in your body." If all the questions can get such a reply, what a magical thing.

S: You have been in Google for two years. Do you think that doing something like this in Google is much different than in other professional medical institutions?

A: Two years in March this year, in the 19th month, we have been able to hire more than 100 scientists to do this business, we have established a customized laboratory, the equipment is running normally, can produce nanoparticles and Make it have some features. We have established partnerships with MIT, Stanford and Duke University. We also work with partners like Novartis to propose innovative solutions. We are constantly trying to do basic research, which will emerge in ten years.

S: One more thing, you don't need team members to spend a lot of time dealing with endless financing.

A: Yes, I don't need it. Our funds are very plentiful, but we are as cautious and thoughtful as others in terms of spending. We don't have to worry about money. What we do is to try bravely, and failure will not make us unhappy. People will be resentful of stupid attempts, but if this is a brave and sensible attempt, then failure is a gift, because we often learn more from failure than success. If I told you ten years ago that I wanted to build a computer that could perform complex calculations, with built-in radios, multiple sensors, and very small size, you would make fun of me. But if I tell you that I can make it in ten years, you won't laugh at me.

S: In the next ten years, I will be able to wear it on my wrist?

A: Yes.

S: Really?

A: People want it, I hope so.

S: Five years?

A: I believe we can find a partner who can start doing this work within five years. We do have a few years to go. This is a huge project, and the task is so grand – to prevent disease completely and not just to find a way to treat the disease. It's like we want to build a house with fireproof materials instead of providing a variety of fire extinguishers. The miniaturization of electronic devices, the formation of functional nanoparticles, and basic research results will enable us to create more medical services and inventions.

One more thing - nanoparticle detection is a project, contact lenses are a project, and Baseline research is also a project, which is a concrete manifestation of our overall plan. Everything is very attractive and has some sci-fi colors, but the core is that our research is actually very systematic and organized. We use strong mechanisms to build strong partnerships with universities, healthcare providers, and pharmaceutical companies. We wisely introduce external cooperation, so we can accomplish something beyond our capabilities, and we will have the opportunity to change the course of the medical health aircraft carrier. They are very serious participants. We know that we are still in the early stages, but we will do our best to brew bigger dreams and work hard to contribute to the whole system.

Source: Tiger Sniff Network

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