In a video introduction, Google has announced a new name for its Life Sciences division, recently placed under the Alphabet umbrella. The division will now be an independent entity known as "Verily."
"There's no user manual for the human being," a voice intones over an image of a child in the new video, announcing the name change. As part of the rebranding of the division, a new website, verily.com, is also live.
Google's Life Sciences division has previously tackled such projects as bandage-sized glucose monitors and researching a perfect "baseline" of human health, working as part of Google[x]. Presumably, Verily will now continue those projects under the recently organized Alphabet structure. Indeed, the smart contact lenses the company announced it was building almost two years ago appear on the page for the new website.
"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 says. "Now, as an independent company, Verily is focused on using technology to better understand health, as well as prevent, detect, and manage disease."
The new name was introduced in an interview with CEO Andy Conrad, who told the health science publication STAT that the name was related to the archaic word meaning "truly." "Only through the truth are we going to defeat Mother Nature," Conrad said.