Liquid biopsies promise a less invasive way to diagnose disease

It is coursing through every patient’s veins. Traditionally, biopsies have required invasively gathering tissue – from a lung, a liver, or a fetus. Now it’s possible to look for disease without surgery. The DNA is sitting there in the bloodstream, physician Ash Alizadeh tells host Russ Altman, as they preview the age of liquid biopsies on this episode of Stanford Engineering’s The Future of Everything podcast.