ImYoo is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)
This means that, in addition to being accountable to our shareholders, we also are responsible for returning benefits to the public. Those benefits look different for each PBC. For ImYoo, that means “empowering individuals to be active participants in this scientific discovery process,” as stated in our charter. We empower people by hosting interactive interviews and workshops designed to educate broader audiences on existing research. We also share our own studies about the human immune system, which citizen scientists can help design and join. We’re on a mission to bring radical transparency to scientific research, which means doing our very best to share the outcomes of our research.
The Science
We look at which genes are turning on and off in your immune system.
Your sample acts as a molecular snapshot of your immune system.
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Similar to how genomics looks at your DNA, we use transcriptomics to look at your RNA. This tells us not just what your genes are, but how they're behaving.
The Origins
David & Tatyana studied single-cell RNA sequencing for their PhDs at Caltech. The university didn't have a hospital of its own, so they struggled to find samples for their experiments.
They even Googled, "How to collect your own blood?" They discovered the TAPII device from YourBio Health and tested it on themselves. Self-collecting their own capillary blood, they were able to iterate many more times on their experiments. Teaming up with Jeff Park, they optimized single-cell RNA sequencing on capillary blood and uncovered novel findings with their thesis work. Their proprietary workflow accelerated their work in grad school and they knew it could do the same for future immune studies.
They started ImYoo to shrink the gap between researchers and study participants. The patient community should set the pace for biodiscovery; researchers should never be stuck waiting around for samples. Putting the TAP device in the hands of other citizen scientists accelerates the research needed for immune-mediated conditions.
