Latin America (Latam) is a geographic economy often overlooked by Europe and the US. Nevertheless, in recent years, the region has made some fast advancements in the area of digital transformation. Where once oil and mining behemoths took the highest valuations, the region is quicky catching up with high growth businesses. In the last 3 years the region has seen 17 unicorns raise from conception, and the most valuable company is a digital e-commerce platform: Mercadolibre.
According to LAVCA (Latin American Venture Capital Association), VC investments have nearly doubled annually in the region. With investments made in reputable companies such as Nubank, Loft and Wildlife, widely known global VC funds such as sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz have started to leave their staple in the region.
We should not forget that the region counts with a population double of that of the US and half the GDP of china. Moreover, there is widespread amount of economic inequality, where the wealthy in cities such as Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro are living to standards of cities such as London or Paris, the poor battle with issues such as hunger, housing shortage etc. This creates an ecosystem with a lot of opportunities and allows for the attraction of capital and talent.
Indeed, Uber recorded that brazil is their largest market on a global level for volume of ride, with São Paulo recording the highest traffic on the app. Moreover, Rappi, a widely spread (among other things) delivery app with Colombian origin saw its sales grow by 113% over the first five months of the corona crisis.
Even though it might seem, that at a meagre 2.2% of national GDP, the technology company market cap provides a minimal disruption, an average 65% yearly growth from 2003 shows the potential of the industry. This should be compared taking into consideration the 11% annual growth of the US or the 40% growth of China.
What factors contribute to this growth? Well, a large survey of Brazilian students shows the population has large interest in contributing to the sector. That is, by working for large techs or start-ups or with the initiative of starting their own company. Besides that, a steady growth in VC investments across the region make for more growth opportunities. Third, the socio-economic status allows for a lot of innovations, with a population that is open for disruption and digital technologies.
Across the Latin American region a lot of investments have been made on a governmental level for incubators and accelerators to increase entrepreneurial activity in the region. And it has, without doubt, brought its results with cities like São Paulo, Medellín, Buenos Aires and Mexico City becoming important tech hubs with strong start-up and investment activity. VC investments continue to steadily rise, with a 100% increase in the last year to $4.6 billion. But, even though investments in starting stages and end stages of ventures have great opportunities in funding, NGO Endeavor has highlighted the need for more investments on a scale-up level. In order to make sure that the companies are able to make the shift from SME/Scale-up to established multination/multibillion corporations. Clearly some cities such as São Paulo have already developed a strong ecosystem with a large eco-system in the areas of Fintech, Housing and insurtech. Yet other cities across the region such as Santiago de Chile and Lima are still struggling to get more capital and movement in their local eco-systems in order to be the driver of change.
An interesting case study is the article from Mariana Palau in the financial times. In order to battle the effects of COVID-19, Colombia has seen an opportunity to make a shift in its economy, moving away from traditional industries with a large ecological footprint such as mining and petroleum. Instead, the country is aiming to make significant investments in the areas of renewable energies, restoration investments in conflict-hit areas from its turbulent past, and last, digital transformation. With initiatives such as a national 4G coverage, digital court files and electronic medical records, the country plans to digitize a widespread of industries in order to assure effectiveness and creating new industries.
Will you be designing your own baby? The impact of AI and DNA alterations on the future of the human race.
8
October
2020
5/5 (2)
In 2003, an almost 15-year long study with a whopping cost of $2.7 billion dollars, named the Human Genome Project, provided us with the genetic blueprint of a human being. In this study the human genome was studied, which is the overall set of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in our body. DNA is made of the iconic twisting, paired strands. Made of four chemical units, known as the nucleotide bases: Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Guanine (G) and Cytosine (C). Located in pairs on opposite ends. Within the nucleus of our cells 23 pairs of chromosomes exist, encapsulating approximately 3 billion pairs of the paired strands. Working together, all of these pairs are the building pieces that determine us: how we look, how we act and how we feel.
Even though the meaning of every DNA pair or group of DNA pairs has not yet been discovered, a lot of information has already been acquired such as the genetic code of diseases like Alzheimer’s, Sickle Cell anemia, blindness, AIDS, muscular dystrophy etc. Moreover, we also already understand some genetic code that serves as building blocks in common physical attributes such as: eye colour, hair colour and even proneness to sweat!
Industry appearance and growth
Since the completion of the human genome project, the price of sequencing your own DNA has drastically fallen with current costs for a complete individual genomic picture falling under $1000 Dollars.
This drastic fall in price has given space to a whole new industry, with companies like MyHeritage, that provide test kits for a mere €49 euros to determine your biological heritage, sharing information on what areas of the world (such as Europe, Asia, North/South America, Africa, etc) your former ancestors were from. Even though the overall truth and effectiveness of these tests is still under scrutiny by many, it already portrays the start of a new industry emerging.
On a more serious note, there are also more practical applications were the screening and data compilation of the human genome has proven to provide a lot of value such as; carrier testing, for the chances of genetic diseases for offspring. Prenatal testing, to find out genetic or chromosomal disorders. Forensic testing, for crime scenes, predictive testing, to detect future disposition to diseases such as Alzheimer’s. And lastly, preimplantation testing for in-vitro fertilization, to test the genetic code of fertilized eggs.
Cost per genome data – 2020
The value of the human genome, and uncovering its many secrets exponentially rose when in 2012, a breakthrough led by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier Showed how an enzyme called CAS-9 could be used to cut, edit or add genomic data into our DNA.
This discovery was made by researching the antivirus defence in bacteria, whom, when attacked by a virus, would create a defence mechanism building the DNA of the virus into its own genome. With this, scientists were able to learn how genome patterns work as well and what they mean, these patterns are also known as “Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”, also known as CRISPR.
Sequencing enough genomes and doing enough tests in order to figure out the exact use of fragments of genetic code is very data heavy. As mentioned before, each human being is composed of about 3 billion pairs of genomic material. Nevertheless, with recent advancements in big data computing and AI, deciphering and altering the code of life has never been this close. Because of this, the genetic testing market has been growing exponentially with a CAGR of 11,5% annually. Many countries are actively investing in this new technology, with places such as the UK aiming to fully sequence the genome of 5 million Britons, the US aiming to sequence over 1 million US citizens and China being most aggressive, aiming to sequence 50% of new-Borns by 2020.
Innovative disruption
The cost of editing and studying the human genome has drastically fallen. This has opened up the scene to biohackers, a group of people, without medical qualifications (in most cases) that decide to take CRISPR advancements into their own hands. As can be seen in the Netflix documentary series Unnatural Selection, people can buy human genome editing toolkits from $60 to about $1000 (Available in the US but illegal in the Netherlands) where they tinker with the human genome and in extreme cases auto experiment with themselves such as the case with Tristan Roberts, an HIV-positive man who self-injects himself with an experimental gene therapy that is yet unproven in its efficiency. Or Josiah Zayner, a famous biohacker infamously known for injecting himself with self-enhancing gene therapy in a convention with the aim of increasing his strength.
CRISPR Cas9 genetic engineering kit – $150
The emergence of these biohackers both bring positive effects to disruptions, such as the emergence of crowd-sourced study groups to bring much-needed biomedical advances at a low cost (e.g. cheaper alternatives to penicillin). Yet, simultaneously, playing with the genetic code of humans and animals under no ethical standards and supervision can cause irreparable damage and discredit the industry and bring official studies to a slowdown with stronger regulations.
Human DNA alteration, the emergence of Designer babies
CRISPR has proven potential to remove heritable diseases from the human genome by making selective cuts in fertilized eggs. With the growing efficiency of in-vitro fertilization procedures, pre-implantation genetic testing becomes more and more feasible. Through these tests, we will be able to deduce a lot of characteristics about the genetics of the person. As portrayed in the Netflix documentary of human nature, making selective cuts, additions and changes into the genomic code could mean the disappearance of genetic conditions and diseases such as sickle cell disease, Crohn’s Disease, Down Syndrome, Alzheimer’s, AIDS etc.
This might seem far away, yet an infamous experiment by a groups of Chinese scientists in Shenzhen in 2018, who implanted gene-edited embryos that were made to be resistant to AIDS, shows that these applications are right at our doorstep. The woman implanted gave birth to twins who were resistant to AIDS, yet the scientist team was given a 2-year prison sentence and a 1 million yuan fine. This unethical experiment shook the scientific community to its core and strengthened the international rulings on CRISPR altered human embryo gene-alteration experimentation.
The removal of diseases is not the only thing scientists and companies are interested in. With increased knowledge on the function of different genes, we are approaching a reality where gene-editing in babies for desired physical and mental attributes becomes more and more of a possibility. Indeed, a close connection to the 1997 classic sci-fi noir film, Gattaca, where humans were able to define every single aspect of their child, creating new bridges between the wealthy and the poor, where money was not only the only difference between the classes. Currently, (without the use of CRISPR) by using human genome identification in embryos, a fertility clinic in California, USA, allows parents to choose the eye and hair colour of their child by comparing different fertilized embryos.
More complex attributes such as strength, intelligence and creativity are not decoded, due to different sets of genes having part in this and the effect of epigenetics (genes turning or off due to environmental effects over time). Nevertheless, fast and impactful advances in AI and large databases with human genome data will provide us with deeper insight on the building our building blocks and what exact changes to make to achieve our desired results. This will open a world of possibilities in the alteration of the human genome for the years to come, yet many have posed the question to what extent it is up to us to have control in this. Would it be ethical to genetically engineer our offspring? Should these changes be made to future generations as well? How would pricing for such a disruptive innovation work?
There is also a movement for a moratorium (worldwide prohibition or freeze) on clinically using germline editing technology on humans. Considering its large benefits, it is hard to assess whether this technology will bring more good than bad. With fears of it only being available to the rich or of it negatively impacting the genetic code of the human race down the line. Nevertheless, global competition and lack of trust make this a not very likely scenario.
What is your opinion? Should genetic changes be passed down generations? Should all diseases be removed? Would you change your own genetic code if it were a possibility? What would you change?
