Dennis Sun
1.3K posts
@Mezarque
Cofounder of @dittobio, @ycombinator (W26) | prev: @berkeleyMCB @hscrb
🧬 @dittobio is utilizing parasite strategies for developing breakthrough drugs for autoimmune disease. Why parasites? They've been running experiments on humans for millions of years being able to control the human immune system. Ditto is building an AI platform to identify drug-like proteins from these types of organisms which they then engineer into safe, effective therapeutics. 🦠 🪲 🪱 They are just getting started and have already analyzed over a million proteins across primate-infecting viruses, ticks, and parasitic worms. Initial discovery is looking promising! @pioneer_fund is proud to back these three PhD scientists! Congratulations @AdairLBorges, @Mezarque, and @emilycpierce. Excited to partner with you!
“Until we build an all-powerful but distant God, the agency problem remains. AIs are not capable of directing themselves; most people aren’t either.” Sam Kriss reports from San Francisco on the next generation of AI technologists. harpers.org/archive/2026/0…
The best immunologists on Earth don't have PhDs. They're parasites. Today's spotlight 🧵(and big inspo for @dittobio ): Ticks! And if you like this, stay tuned because we will be sharing cool parasite facts each week #TickTalk 🕷️
A study uncovers the mechanisms by which a parasitic wasp uses a virus that it produces from its own DNA to disrupt the development of the testes of its moth host, diverting host resources that would have gone to reproduction. In PNAS: ow.ly/HxlA50Yf4l7
