Our Why
Vision
Our vision is to open-source the code of life, empowering humanity’s transformation to a world guided by nature’s ancient wisdom.
Imagine a world where cars are made of seashells, homes use tree- and coral-inspired materials to clean air and water, and we’ve eliminated disease because we understand nature has solved every molecular problem. We see a future where, given any problem, we ask how nature has already solved this problem? How has nature already solved this disease?
Mission
We build open tools to characterize the “forgotten 99%” of marine genetic diversity, unlocking breakthroughs to heal, nourish, and renew life on Earth.
Biodiversity brought us breakthroughs like Ozempic (derived from lizard venom) and anti-HIV and anti-cancer compounds from a ancient sea sponges providing a glimpse of what’s possible when we start to dive into the ocean’s depths. These discoveries come from a handful of species representing a tiny fraction of Earth’s biodiversity. We’ve only begun to explore nature’s 4 billion years of experiments.
Who we are
Seanome is a nonprofit, focused research organization (FRO) building scalable, open-source tools to decode the vast genetic potential of our oceans. Founded by computational biologist Dr. Olga Botvinnik, we are revolutionizing how scientists understand and harness marine biodiversity.
Why Nonprofit?
We’re nonprofit and open-source to make science better for everyone. If we make products that only well-financed pharma companies can afford, we’re not expanding the opportunity space enough to transformationally change the world by democratizing access to innovation. Fundamentally, we need to build (and maintain!) open-source tools to enable the most innovation. We can make the tools that enable the most people to create all the patents, medicines, and materials the world needs from the quadrillions of unknown proteins in the world.