Silicon Valley's biotech firms: 'Theranos gave us a black eye'

Despite signs of crisis among science startups, many still think that biotech will create companies so powerful that they will 'win' the 21st century

It was noon on a Thursday at a gathering of science startups in San Francisco. The public market for biotechnology stock had dropped 25% in two months. The private sector's star startup, Theranos, valued at $9bn, has begun to implode. The most popular food tech startup, Hampton Creek, which is trying to reinvent mayonnaise, has reportedly stretched the truth of their science.

And yet there was no sign of trouble on that sunny afternoon.