You’ve heard of 5-base genomics. How about 6-base? It turns out that separating 5-methylcytosine (mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC) is pretty important.
Peter Fromen has had a front-row seat to the evolution of sequencing, from the rise of high-throughput genomics at Illumina to long-read technologies at PacBio. Now, as CEO of Biomodal, he’s focused on integrating genetics and epigenetics into a single workflow—and showing that the regulatory layer of the genome may be where the next breakthroughs lie.
Chapters:
0:00: Why epigenetics needed a reset
12:07 The colorectal cancer study and early detection signal
16:41 Building the 6-base ecosystem
21:23 Commercial traction and the road to the clinic
In today’s program, Fromen explains why distinguishing between mC and hmC changes how we read biology. Biomodal’s recent colorectal cancer study begins to demonstrate that value in practice.
“We ultimately ended up generating an AUC of 95%,” he says, describing early-stage detection results that point to the power of combining both signals.
More broadly, he frames hydroxymethylation as an early indicator of disease.
“hmC is essentially the canary in the coal mine for early disease detection.”
We also discuss the practical side—what a 6-base workflow looks like in the lab and where the company sits commercially as it pushes toward clinical validation.
Will this be the new standard for how we read biology?
