June 2021: EncrypGen Progress Report

Room for two: EncrypGen has signed an MOU with New Zealand based Theranostics, just a couple months after signing a deal with IndyGeneUS.ai. Both companies will provide genomic data for EncrypGen’s decentralized genomics marketplace, and in return, participants will be compensated for scientific inquiries to their DNA.

Highlights at a glance:

• ***EncrypGen signs another MOU with a new company to load more DNA data into EncrypGen’s genomics marketplace!*** The MOU is with Theranostics of New Zealand. More details to come in the coming weeks!
• IndyGeneUS.ai is looking to purchase their own sequencing machines. They want to expand their ability to sequence DNA beyond their University partnerships. We’ll keep our ears to the tracks on this one.
• El Salvador makes history by adopting Bitcoin as legal tender. Many would herald this as a paradigm shift in monetary policy, but only time will tell.
• Get up-to-date with EncrypGen’s monthly Town Hall meeting. (Audio only)
• Dr. Angus Perry, a genomics scientist, joins the EncrypGen team.

In the media this month:

Here are the links to where EncrypGen and Dr. Koepsell showed up in the media for the month of May.

If we missed something here, please let us know on the Officially Endorsed EncrypGen Telegram, so we can add it!

• EncrypGen’s new format Town Hall meeting.
• Blockchain is Changing Genomic Data. Dr. Koepsell interview with The Coin Republic.
• Decentralized Healthcare Information Exchange( HIE), A Sustainable Framework managing Medical Records [YouTube]
• Blockchain, Biotech, & Bioethics interview with DarshanTalks [YouTube]
• It’s Time to Clear up our Rights to our own DNA [Linked-In]
• David Koepsell On Genomic Data Advancements “Just Around The Block” [Gokhshteinmedia]
• Comments by Dr. Koepsell: El Salvador Makes History by Adopting Bitcoin as Legal Tender, Prompting Other Countries to Follow, [Yahoo Finance]

Dr. Koepsell speaks on a panel with the Decentralized Healthcare Information Exchange.

June 30: Town Hall with Dr. Koepsell Highlights [Here]

• In the last month, EncrypGen has had a number of interactions with companies that are interested in using the Gene-Chain platform for a variety of reasons. The most prevalent reason, is to provide equity and ‘genetic justice.’ This allows the gathering of diverse genetic data. This is exemplified by the last two companies that EncrypGen has signed on to the platform.
• The most recent company that has signed on with EncrypGen is a small genomics testing startup from New Zealand, and they’ve had success in the market and have received investments that have allowed them to expand their business. The population they’re dealing with is also concerned with dealing with indigenous genetic data.
• Dr. Koepsell has recently brought on to the team a medical doctor from the UK; Dr. Angus Perry. He will be helping with business development plans, and he’s also a genomic scientist. A more formal announcement is in the works.
• Dr. Koepsell and the EncrypGen team are focused on obtaining a lot of genetic data for free, rather than spending exorbitant amounts on advertising and other platforms they have used in the past.
• Quick update on advertising: The paid advertising campaign continues on Facebook, Twitter, and Google. It turns out now, that Facebook ads are more useful than they were a couple of years ago, so that will be continued. The continued spend rate will allow EncrypGen to continue advertising for the next 18 months, which is excellent exposure! More figures to come as data is available.
• 2021 has been a turning point for large-scale acquisition of genomics companies. A lot of money has gone into the direct-to-consumer testing field. The good part is that everyone sees there’s a need for genetic testing. The science is still developing, so it’s a catch-22 for maturing both the collection and making sense of the genetic data.
• As the science matures of genetic testing, more employers and insurers will pay for that information. Clearly, big investors see the value in this testing data. As this happens, EncrypGen is here to help consumers profit from this flow of money and data, in a more democratic way.
• There’s hundreds of small companies helping consumers to use genetic data, and these companies are reaching out to EncrypGen to inquire about how both parties can benefit from the existing Gene-Chain platform.
• EncrypGen’s only consideration for the utility token is to make sure it’s available for those that are using the product, both researchers and users. CoinMetro is compliant in over 100 jurisdictions, and has completely satisfied EncrypGen’s need for token distribution. For the foreseeable future, there are no plans to expand the number of exchanges where the utility token is offered.

Bits and Bytes:

Dr. Koepsell interviews with DarshanTalks in talking about bioethics and other interesting subjects.

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego says that his bank, Banco Azteca, is working to become the first bank in Mexico to accept Bitcoin. This comes right around the same time that neighbouring country El Salvador and its president announced that the entire country will now give Bitcoin legal tender status. Since China has clamped down on bitcoin in an attempt to control currency leaving its massive country, El Salvador’s president immediately saw an opening to be the new Bitcoin haven. [Wired]

Scientists have made a dramatic discovery in an Israeli excavation site, where they have found a prehistoric human type previously unknown to science. This is quite an amazing finding, and is sure to yet again change the human history books. Researchers are calling it one of the most important findings in the last century! [YouTube]

It is estimated that every year globally, 8 million children (6% of total births worldwide) are born with a serious birth defect of genetic, or partially genetic origin. Additionally, up to 3.3 million children 5 years or younger, die annually due to these serious birth defects. Unlike a pandemic, these millions of deaths never make it to the news, because it has been viewed as an unfortunate statistic of human reproduction. Perhaps in the future, companies like EncrypGen and their genomics marketplace will help scientists and researchers better understand how some of these genetic defects work.

Picking up Speed:

So far in 2021 alone, EncrypGen has now secured two major genomic data deals that will significantly contribute tens of thousands of data sets to its Gene-Chain. As EncrypGen’s genomic marketplace fills out, becomes scientifically viable, and similar companies see it as a working, viable solution to compensate participants and offset sequencing costs, more like-minded companies will likely step forward.

It’s said that a waterfall starts with only a couple drops, and with genetic testing and sequencing becoming mainstream, affordable, and widespread across the globe, there will be even more data sets for EncrypGen to absorb into its ecosystem.

Every new data set that lands on EncrypGen’s platform increases its scientific value. Drop by drop, data set by data set, the Gene-Chain will become a stream, then a river, and then a waterfall of data. As new data starts to trickle into the ecosystem at the end of 2021, there will be no stopping this process of co-evolution between data sets and platform value.