Parmita Mishra — How to Think About Biology | Episode 244

Parmita Mishra is a computational biologist and the founder & CEO of Precigenetics, a company aiming to become a rocket to precision medicine.

Parmita is deeply knowledgeable about cutting-edge biology, particularly epigenetics — how behavior and environment can affect gene function without altering genetic code. Her passion for advancing our understanding of diseases is inspiring (and contagious — OSV is an investor in Parmita’s company!)

In our conversation, Parmita and I discuss everything from the curious case of male baldness to how her parents have saved 50,000 lives. Enjoy!

Important Links:

Show Notes:

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:53 Main podcast
0:01:40 Explaining epigenetics to a golden retriever
0:14:23 The curious case of male pattern baldness
0:17:50 How to think about biology: start from first principles & beware binary thinking
0:27:32 The lens you look through determines what you see
0:43:55 The problem of data collection in biology
0:48:22 Why the FDA needs to change its approach
0:55:53 Why we still don’t understand the human brain
1:00:48 Garry Tan’s advice: “Get an idea. Get a co-founder.”
1:04:18 What’s been surprising about foundership?
1:08:29 Failure is a ladder
1:16:09 Obsession & how Parmita’s parents have saved 50,000 lives
1:23:19 The most surprising things about America
1:30:41 Parmita as World Empress

Books Mentioned:

- What is Life?; by Erwin Schrodinger
- Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid; by Douglas Hofstadter
- The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (A Little) Craziness and (A Lot of) Success in America; by John D. Gartner

[OODAloop]

This is so professionally done. Thanks Jim for bringing Parm and her ideas to us this way.

[RossPfeiffer]

I didn't know this was finally released