Silene Biotech

Silene Biotech was a Seattle-based biotechnology startup that offered a direct-to-consumer stem cell banking service, allowing individuals to preserve their own white blood cells today for use in future personalized medicine therapies. Founded in 2015 by Alex Jiao and Jenna Strully — both former University of Washington researchers — the company collected blood samples via a partnership with Bloodworks Northwest and stored cells at a secure facility in Indianapolis. The cells could be retrieved at any time for use in regenerative medicine applications such as growing replacement tissue, testing drug resistance, or eventually regrowing entire organs. Originally named miPS Labs (a reference to induced pluripotent stem cell technology), the company participated in Techstars Seattle 2017 and raised approximately $450,000 from UW grants, angel investors, and Techstars. Silene Biotech was acquired by NanoSurface Biomedical in September 2019 to expand stem cell-based technologies.