Ixcela

Ixcela was co-founded by Drs. Erika Ebbel Angle and Wayne Matson with a group of outstanding scientists (see the biographies of our amazing co-workers). All of us had developed technologies and methods for the study of a range of diseases for diagnosis, predictive diagnostic risk factors and specification of therapy (personalized medicine).

After deep analysis of the complex biochemical profiles for over 1000 compounds in several thousand subjects, it became clear to us that the microbiome (the some 6-10,000 species in the gut – second largest organ in the body) was a critical part of the biochemical web distinguishing normal from disease subjects. Understanding these webs could also allow the prediction of therapeutic response. Additionally, the biochemistry of the microbiome had direct links to the function of other organs including the brain.

This led us beyond the ideas of diagnosis and therapy to the concept of promoting biochemical wellness (“internal health”) through measurement and control of the microbiome with specific, personalized intervention based on testing.

The basic scientific concepts behind Ixcela are:

1. Biochemical wellness or “internal health” is based on optimum operation of the “Omic web” which consists of the:
   • Interaction of the Genome (30,000 some genes)
   • Transcriptome and Proteome (some 100,000+ RNAs and Proteins)
   • Metabolome (some 10,000s of small signaling and process molecules)
   • Microbiome (some 6-10,000 species).
2. That the composition of the competitive species in the Microbiome is genetically determined initially, but offers the easiest and most significant part of the Omic web for intervention.
3. That the Omic web is “holographic” and can be well, if not completely, described by measuring a small subset of critical metabolites