100k is very little for medical research. Scientific instruments are far far far far more expensive then desktop PCs. And labs are far far far far more expensive then garages.

I am still waiting for the day when med. tech. is commoditized the way IBM clones were, and the price of scientific research drops so low that almost anyone can dabble in it.

That was my first thought. I agree that $100k is low for medical research, but it is very similar to the YC idea: fund something for a few months to see if it can get legs. If it can, additional investment can be found.