--- title: Google: Google X Plans Pill to Detect Cancer and Other Diseases description: Google announced Tuesday a project to design a swallowable pill to detect the presence of malignant cells and other signs of disease. canonical: https://time.com/3544510/google-x-cancer-pill/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-28T21:20:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:03:31.799Z article:section: Health og:title: This Is Google's Plan to Change How Diseases Are Found og:description: Google's top secret research facility has unveiled its latest project. og:url: https://time.com/3544510/google-x-cancer-pill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30deda81f07c08d3/6986884d169ab050d52788b2/google.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A Google logo is seen at the garage where the company was founded on Google's 15th anniversary in Menlo Park, California og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is Google's Plan to Change How Diseases Are Found twitter:description: Google's top secret research facility has unveiled its latest project. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30deda81f07c08d3/6986884d169ab050d52788b2/google.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Google Is Working on a Pill That Can Catch Diseases Earlier  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Oct 28, 2014 9:20 PM CUT  A Google logo is seen at the garage where the company was founded on Google's 15th anniversary in Menlo Park, California September 26, 2013\. REUTERS/Stephen Lam (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS ANNIVERSARY LOGO) - RTX140ZG A Google logo is seen at the garage where the company was founded on Google's 15th anniversary in Menlo Park, California September 26, 2013\. REUTERS/Stephen Lam (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS ANNIVERSARY LOGO) - RTX140ZGStephen Lam—Reuters  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Oct 28, 2014 9:20 PM CUT Google has [plans](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/google-working-pill-search-illnesses-26516500 "undefined") to design an ingestible pill that detects the presence of malignant cells and other signs of disease, the company said Tuesday. The pill would contain tiny magnetic particles that would travel through a patient’s bloodstream and register the presence of chemicals or cells associated with diseases like cancer on a little device, the [Associated Press](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/google-working-pill-search-illnesses-26516500 "undefined") reports. The goal would be to allow patients to monitor their health in real-time to catch a potential illness before it’s even diagnosable. The project, announced at a tech conference organized by the Wall Street _Journal_, is the latest life sciences innovation from the Google X facility. The secret research center, home of Google Glass, previously revealed a partnership with pharmaceutical company Novartis to create [smart contact lenses that monitor diabetics’ blood sugar levels.](http://time.com/2989049/google-smart-lens/ "undefined") \[[_AP_](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/google-working-pill-search-illnesses-26516500 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3544510/google-x-cancer-pill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3544510/google-x-cancer-pill/"},"headline":"Google Is Working on a Pill That Can Catch Diseases Earlier","datePublished":"2014-10-28T21:20:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:03:31.799Z","description":"A pill that can detect the signs of diseases, including cancer","url":"https://time.com/3544510/google-x-cancer-pill/","keywords":["Research","Tech","medicine","Cancer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30deda81f07c08d3/6986884d169ab050d52788b2/google.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30deda81f07c08d3/6986884d169ab050d52788b2/google.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A Google logo is seen at the garage where the company was founded on Google's 15th anniversary in Menlo Park, California","caption":"A Google logo is seen at the garage where the company was founded on Google's 15th anniversary in Menlo Park, California","creditText":"Stephen Lam—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3544510/google-x-cancer-pill/","name":"Google Is Working on a Pill That Can Catch Diseases Earlier"}}]}] ```