This Startup Wants To Catch Cancer Before It Spreads episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 6, 2026 · 20 MIN

This Startup Wants To Catch Cancer Before It Spreads

from Y Combinator Startup Podcast · host Y Combinator

1 in 11 babies born in America this year will be screened by a genetic test that didn't exist a decade ago.Biotech startup BillionToOne turned a simple but radical idea—detecting rare fragments of fetal DNA in a mother's blood—into one of the most widely used prenatal tests in the U.S. And they're not stopping there. The same approach could unlock something even bigger: early-stage cancer detection from a blood test, a breakthrough that could one day save millions of lives.In this episode of Hard Tech, YC's Jared Friedman sits down with David Tsao and Oguzhan Atay to hear how they went from half a lab bench to a $4B biotech company—and why they believe this is just the beginning of what their technology can do.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Apr 6, 2026

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

This Startup Wants To Catch Cancer Before It Spreads

0:00 20:49

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Y Combinator Startup Podcast?

This episode is 20 minutes long.

When was this Y Combinator Startup Podcast episode published?

This episode was published on April 6, 2026.

Can I download this Y Combinator Startup Podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!