Google's parent company Alphabet announced that its health and medicine division has been renamed. And so Alphabet finally gets a "V."
Formerly known has Google Life Sciences, the division will now be called Verily.
Making the announcement in a video introduction and a new website that went live on Monday, Verily revealed that it will focus on using technology to better understand health and treat diseases.
Google's Life Sciences division previously worked on health-related projects and research as part of Google [x], but now Verily, which became an independent company in August under Alphabet, will pick up these projects moving forward. Such projects include smart contact lenses equipped with a glucose sensor to better treat and monitor diabetes, a cardiac and activity sensor, and Liftware utensils for people with tremors.
"As a life sciences team within Google[x], we were able to combine the best of our technology heritage with expertise from across many fields," the website reads. "Now, as an independent company, Verily is focused on using technology to better understand health, as well as prevent, detect, and manage disease."
Verily will is also work on new projects such as wearables that include ones that can detect cancer at early stages. This is just one example of how the company wants to personalize medicine and help predict illness early.
The life sciences team, which consists of doctors, engineers, chemists and technologists, will continue to be led by CEO Andy Conrad.
But why call the company Verily?
Verily, which means "truly" or "certainly," is a word that Conrad said is aspirational. "Only through the truth are we going to defeat Mother Nature," Conrad told STAT.
In the video announcing Verily, one of the scientists alludes to the fact that we still don't know that much about our bodies—and Verily said it is going to change that. Check it out in the video below.
Source: Verily
