How Tag.bio Makes It Easier to Interrogate Your Data

<p>The discoveries medical researchers and drug developers can make are constrained by the kinds of questions they can ask of their data. Unfortunately, when it comes to clinical trial data, or gene expression data, or population health data, it feels like you need a PhD in computer science just to know which questions are "askable" and how to frame them. This week, Harry talks with the founders of a startup working to solve that problem.</p><p>Tag.bio aims to make it possible for any worker in the life sciences sector—even if they don't have a PhD in computer science or data science—to interrogate their data quickly and automatically. The idea is to help them uncover trends or connections in their data that would otherwise require months of work and help from a data scientist or a data engineer.</p><p>The company was founded in 2014 as a spinoff from the University of California, San Francisco Cancer Center. That’s where co-founder Jesse Paquette first invented a system that let oncology researchers ask guided questions of their data without help from a bioinformatics expert. Now Paquette is Tag.bio’s chief science officer, and in this episode, he's joined by Tag.bio CEO Tom Covington to talk about how the startup's technology works and why easier access to data is critical to faster progress in drug discovery and to the whole idea of precision medicine.</p><p><strong>Please rate and review MoneyBall Medicine on Apple Podcasts! </strong>Here's how to do that from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:</p><p>• Launch the “Podcasts” app on your device. If you can’t find this app, swipe all the way to the left on your home screen until you’re on the Search page. Tap the search field at the top and type in “Podcasts.” Apple’s Podcasts app should show up in the search results.</p><p>• Tap the Podcasts app icon, and after it opens, tap the Search field at the top, or the little magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner.</p><p>• Type MoneyBall Medicine into the search field and press the Search button.</p><p>• In the se