Born in Berlin, Thiel spent his childhood in the German metropolis where his parents both worked within the medical field. Growing up with medical professionals the importance of medical advancements was instilled in him from an early age, but it wasn’t until he took his first biology class that Thiel developed his own passion for the science of medicine. In particular, he remembers the day he first learned about DNA and immediately became fascinated with it. He thought that if all living creatures have within them a genetic roadmap that can be used to discover their unique traits and characteristics, then with the right compass DNA could also be used to find the cause for diseases, leading to innovation in both prevention and treatment.