START pod: Jeff Liu, CEO & Co-Founder, FinalDose "Programmable DNA drug destroying all cancers, unlocking 80% of targets"

Most cancer drugs target proteinsFinalDose thinks the real opportunity is one layer deeper: DNAJeff Liu and his team are building a programmable drug platform that uses genetic mutations to identify and selectively destroy cancer cellsCells without those mutations are not targetedInstead of creating a completely new drug for every cancer type, the platform is designed as a reusable system with different genetic instructionsOne chassis.Different disease targets.The broader bet: DNA is more deterministic than proteins, which could unlock therapeutic approaches traditional drugs struggle to reachSearch.Destroy."A programmable cell elimination platform."🎙️ Jeff Liu, Cofounder & CEO of FinalDose on START 00:11 Why proteins may be the wrong layer for cancer treatment01:14 Using DNA mutations as programmable kill signatures03:20 Building a reusable therapeutic platform instead of one-off drugs05:00 Why hard biotech problems require interdisciplinary teams06:00 Getting into YC after a 4 a.m. interview in Japan08:00 Sam Altman’s $2M AI token offer — and why FinalDose passed10:08 How AI-native biotech is accelerating programmable medicine12:00 Why the future of medicine may look more like engineering13:05 The regulatory bottleneck for programmable therapeuticsLearn more at finaldose.ai