A native of north-eastern France, Pascal Mayer studied at the University of Strasbourg to earn a doctorate in macromolecular biophysics from the Institut Charles Sadron in 1991. His thesis dealt with the dynamics of DNA under pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and the creation of related automatic optical instrumentation.
From 1991 to 1994, he completed a first post-doc at the University of Ottawa, during which he worked on the physics of DNA in gel sequencing and began his research on end-labelled free-solution electrophoresis (ELFSE). During his second post-doc, this time at the CNRS Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal in Bordeaux, France, he worked on DNA separation in polymer solutions and in self-forming micro-structured ferrofluid arrays.
In late 1996, he began working at a Glaxo-Wellcome research center in Geneva, Switzerland, where he conducted pioneering work on DNA sequencing on self-forming DNA colonies. He continued this work at Serono until 2003 and then as Chief Science Officer at Manteia Predictive Medicine, seeking to create personalized genome maps analyzed by AI. Today, his discoveries and inventions are essential components in next generation sequencing (NGS).
In 2004, Pascal Mayer co-founded Haploys (France) to create DNA sample chips and a new isothermal DNA amplification method that would have DNA computing applications. From 2009 to 2013, he held a variety of positions in Biofilm Control (France), a microbiology startup. In 2014, he co-founded and became president of Alphanosos (France). This startup uses proprietary AI algorithms to mix non-pharmaceutical ingredients into safe and patentable formats that have strong biological properties for therapeutic and technical applications. He is married, father to two daughters, and grandfather of adorable grandchildren. “I am extremely grateful to all my loved ones, colleagues and teammates for their support and assistance in transforming all these concepts into reality.”