30 under 40 biotech 2x1Mohammad Islam, Racquel Bracken, Julie Grant, and Dan Estes are among Silicon Valley’s top young venture capitalists investing in biotech.Shayanne Gal/Business Insider

Putting millions of dollars into bold new technologies can be a delicate business when lives hang in the balance. But every day some of the sharpest minds in Silicon Valley make big bets on tools and techniques that promise to cure disease, help fix the food system, and even prolong life.

Biotech is one of the hottest sectors for venture-capital funds right now.

In January, startup accelerator Y Combinator announced details of its plan to launch a new biotech track focused on advances in the life sciences. Some of the biggest recent buzz in the sector has centered on new ways of tackling cancer using patients’ own immune systems, fresh therapies built on gene-editing tools like CRISPR, and potentially revolutionary techniques for making meat without factory farming.

“We like to back things that are unlike anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Mohammad Islam, a principal at VC firm DFJ, which recently invested in Memphis Meats — one of the startups aiming to make real meat from animal cells.

In addition to the venture capitalists on this list, Business Insider spoke with entrepreneurs and CEOs to gauge the top young biotech stars. These are the most interesting and ambitious biotech investors, age 40 and under, on the West Coast: