Anna Daily of Ascendant Diagnostics
Innovate Arkansas client Ascendant Diagnostics is the latest subject of ASTA’s Authority Spotlight.
ASTA is the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority, and many IA clients also are ASTA clients. Ascendant is a Fayetteville biotech company (and a portfolio firm of Virtual Incubation Co.) that has developed a way to detect breast cancer through the proteins found in tears.
Here’s an excerpt from ASTA’s profile:
Authority client Ascendant Diagnostics is an early stage biotechnology company that was formed in September of 2010. Its focus is on developing innovative new approaches to improve the diagnosis of serious disease and conditions.
The company’s first product targets early stage detection of breast cancer utilizing the proteins present in tear samples.
Senior Scientist Dr. Anna Daily anticipates that adoption in the marketplace will lead to higher survival rates by increasing early detection of the disease.
The test is a non-invasive tear-based collection method that will hopefully lead to increased participation by women who are either unable or unwilling to take advantage of current screening methods.
Will the Auto Industry Get Lit Up?
We’ve seen the future, folks, and tape decks are nowhere to be found. The Atlantic recently featured San Francisco’s Lit Motors, a little startup that some folks think may bring about big changes.
Lit has developed the C-1, a car/motorcycle hybrid that’s fully electric and is “disrupting the automotive space,” according to CEO Daniel Kim. It looks like a covered bike but is driven with a steering wheel.
Impressively, this engineering marvel doesn’t come from a well-funded automaker, but from a lean San Francisco startup with just 10 employees. Kim and his staff built the prototype by hand, using its own patented technology. The total cost to produce the prototype was less than $800,000.
Oh, the C-1 is half the size of a smartcar. Heck, a tape deck couldn’t fit inside one. Change is inevitable, of course. There’s the whole 200 miles on a single charge thing, and that’s good. Heck, the whole culture of car ownership in the U.S. appears to be changing.
But here’s our main concern: Is there room on one of those C-1s for all of our Hog magnets?
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