We’ve come a long way since tissue biopsies were considered the go-to way to obtain samples needed to test for cancer. Breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lung cancer all required invasive methods to obtain tissue. Thankfully, liquid biopsies–whether through samples of saliva, urine, stool, or, in Micronoma’s case, blood–provide a much less invasive way than tissue biopsies to obtain material that can be used to test for the presence or absence of cancer. But not all liquid biopsies are created equal. Each has their own set of pluses and minuses, ranging from how easy they are to collec ..read more

This latest collaboration seeks synergistic methodologies that will enable the earliest, best predictions of lung cancer May 18, 2023. SAN DIEGO, Calif.– Micronoma announced today that it is serving as the industry partner on a grant the NYU Grossman School of Medicine received from the National Cancer Institute to identify microbial and host genomic signatures that can be used with other methodologies to predict non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in its early stages as well as the chance of post-surgical recurrence.   “Micronoma is thrilled to partner again with NYU researchers to ..read more

Jerry started working for Micronoma in May 2023. He was born in China, and raised in San Francisco, where he also went to college (California State, East Bay). As a Senior Scientist, Jerry is part of the computational biology team responsible for data analysis and pipeline development. When he first heard about Micronoma, he thought: “What does the microbiome have to do with cancer?!” Completely onboarded now, his question these days is about whether golf is considered a sport. Jerry spoke with us to provide some insight into his work and path to Micronoma. What does a typical day look like f ..read more

Nick started working for Micronoma in February 2023. He was born and raised in San Diego, and went to college at UC Davis. As a Customer Care Manager, Nick’s main goal is to create a white glove customer experience at Micronoma. He is responsible for building our customer relationship management software, customer engagement systems and, along with the sales team, being the face/voice of the company to our clients. He will help make ordering OncobiotaLUNG as seamless and streamlined as possible for our customers. Nick spoke with us to provide some insight into his work and path to Micronoma ..read more

Up to two million incidentally detected pulmonary nodules (IPN) appear each year on images coming from diagnostic scans that patients undergo for reasons unrelated to lung cancer. These nodules are abnormal growths (neoplasms) that form in the lung and, upon identification, need to be carefully evaluated for their potential malignancy. Incidental findings arise in many clinical scenarios. For instance, someone gets into a car accident and needs a chest x-ray to see how many broken ribs they may have. Or someone with chronic back pain gets an x-ray of their spine. In these two example scenario ..read more

Stephen Wandro joined Micronoma in August 2020 as a senior scientist, with a speciality in analyzing DNA sequencing data. He is responsible for building computational pipelines and interpreting biological data with statistics and machine learning. He organizes and interprets the extensive data from our wet lab into the exciting results that inform our diagnostic test. Though from the Bay Area, he has lived in San Diego for the last three years. He received his B.S. from UCLA in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, and his Ph.D. from UC Irvine in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry ..read more

Inclusion of microbiome supports Micronoma’s efforts to improve cancer detection The “hallmarks of cancer” have captured the core features of cancer biology and served as a guide for future research since their original publication in Cell in 2000. Since then, the hallmarks and its 2011 update have been cited collectively more than 95,000 times, indicating the high credibility of these publications. In 2022, the addition of the “polymorphic microbiomes” in the third installment of this vaunted list —“Hallmarks of Cancer: New Dimensions”—marks an important moment for Micronoma as it seeks to bu ..read more

While researchers have typically seen microbes only as contaminants and discarded them, Micronoma has set itself apart by seeing the treasure trove of opportunity microbes represent to detect and identify cancer early. Using liquid biopsy–a simple blood draw–Micronoma is looking at signals coming from microbes that may be associated with cancer in a biologically relevant manner, while finding ways to separate them from others that would be likely technical contamination.  Indeed, make no mistake, every sample used by researchers has some potential level of microbial contamination. The k ..read more

Micronoma Team Spotlight | 2021 December  2021   Darryl Garrison Position: Chief Operating Officer   Meet Darryl, our Chief Operating Officer. Darryl has more than 20 years of experience in the molecular diagnostic industry. He has been involved in setting up and running molecular clinical laboratories and has been responsible for establishing CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) diagnostics laboratories at many of the major clinical cancer diagnostic laboratories in Southern California. In addition to establishing Micronoma’s CLIA lab, he is assisting with all ope ..read more

Serena Fraraccio’s road to becoming Micronoma’s first wet lab senior scientist started in her hometown in Isernia, Italy, where an interest in the environment and biology blossomed into a career that has gone from winters in Alaska creating bioremediation methods to cleaning up oil spills to San Diego where her focus on the microbiome now includes leading Micronoma’s wet lab operations. Serena sat down for a conversation that showed her enthusiasm for science, helping people and the planet, and the importance of Micronoma’s work. Q: What does an average day at work look like for you? A: On a ..read more