Alternative Careers in Biotech: Anna Skaya, Founder of Basepaws

Inside Biotech

Cats are humans’ other best friend! In Los Angeles alone, there are an estimated 771,076 households that have one or more cats as pets and unconditional sources of companionship and friendship. Despite the high number of cat owners in LA and all over the country, however, there is extremely little research about feline genetics when the numbers are compared to canine genetics and research. Meet Basepaws, a Los Angeles based startup, that is focusing to change this imbalance in research and bring feline research to the forefront. According to their website, “At the Conference on Canine and Feline Genetics and Genomics (2019), for example, canine‑focused presentations outnumbered feline‑focused presentations roughly 5 to 1. In addition, when it comes to the number of sequenced genomes from each species, the goals (and available research funding) for the two fields look completely different."

Thus, to bridge this gap, their goal is to build the world’s largest feline genomics database. Learning genomic information about cats is extremely important because it enables us to better learn about caring about cats. Through DNA and a genomic library, we can learn more about diseases, health issues, and traits to create the best products for cats possible. We virtually sat down with Anna Skaya, the founder of Basepaws, to ask her all about it. You can also learn more by checking out their website: https://basepaws.com.

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