Can you keep custody from swab to device?

We’re exploring what sequencing under your control could look like.

02 / 06PROGRAMMATIC BIOTECH

REPLICATION PROJECT · BERLIN

A sequencing experiment. Berlin Node.

WITH THE FORESIGHT INSTITUTE

Reproduce Seth Howe’s home-sequencing setup at the Foresight Node in Berlin.

Document the method, check the data, trace custody.

Conceptual cream isometric illustration of a participant using a local laptop and portable sequencer at a workbench. This is not a photograph of the Berlin facility.

The near-term goal: a reproducible sequencing workflow with participant control.

03 / 06SAMPLE → ANALYSIS

PROPOSED WORKFLOW · TO DEMONSTRATE

From swab to participant-controlled analysis

Five conceptual objects: sample tube and swab, laptop connected to a slim black-and-silver MinION, owner-held storage and key, Dark Bio Ark device, and approved report.

01
Sample
Participant’s swab
02
MinION + flow cell
Local basecalling + QC
03
Owner-held data
Transfer + access
04
Dark Bio analysis
Runs on the device
05
Approved outputs
Owner chooses

Local sequencing could extend your control to the sample and the first copy of your genome data.

04 / 06YOUR HEALTH DATA OVER TIME

PROPOSED EXPERIENCE

Personal insights from data you control

Conceptual illustration: a participant in a Neko-inspired circular scan booth, repeat check-up calendars, a blood tube and a separate DNA report. At a desk, the participant approves analysis beside a palm-sized Dark Bio device based on the supplied product image. A later clinical discussion reviews a health summary and a possible study invitation. This is a proposed workflow, not an established integration.

Track your health
DNA plus repeat blood work and scans.
Ask an agent to help
Spot changes. Find study options.
Inform your next decision
Review care options with a clinician.

You control which analyses run and which results leave your device.

05 / 06STUDIES THAT COULD INFORM YOUR CARE

PROPOSED RESEARCH NETWORK

Which treatments work for people like you?

Conceptual illustration: three separate circular scenes show people considering study invitations on tablets, each with a palm-sized Dark Bio device beside them. A researcher with software assistance reviews group evidence and comparative follow-up. A participant and clinician consider treatment options, with consented follow-up informing research. No individual benefit or deployed network is established.

Join studies you choose
Agents could help find a match.
Build evidence together
Protected results. Clinical follow-up.
Bring findings into care
Validated choices with your clinician.

Some genetic results already guide prescribing. Broader personalisation needs clinical evidence.

06 / 06NEXT SESSION · AGENTIC DRUG DISCOVERY

A QUESTION FOR THE WIDER ECOSYSTEM

What could an agent ask this ecosystem?

Original vision illustration linking home sequencing, agents, wet lab, validation and medicine with feedback and an auditable onchain trail. These links are aspirational and are not established by the Berlin experiment.

Could consented evidence from personal devices help an agent choose its next experiment?A proposed connection. Experimental and clinical validation remain essential.