Ira Pastor, ideaXme longevity and aging ambassador and founder of Bioquark interviews George Church, “Father of synthetic biology” Professor Harvard Medical Center and MIT, founder Personal Genomes and co-founder of eGenesis and Editas.
“I grew up without any scientists in my life” Professor George Church, comments in his ideaXme interview.
Pioneer in the field of genetics
As well as being “the father of synthetic biology”, Professor Church’s innovations have contributed to nearly all “next generation” DNA sequencing methods and companies (CGI-BGI, Life, Illumina, Nanopore).
“I didn’t have a science course until 8th or 9th grade. However, I was strongly attracted to it, largely because of picture books and the World’s Fair.” Professor George Church, comments in his ideaXme interview.
In 1984 Professor Church’s Harvard PhD included the first methods for direct genome sequencing, molecular multiplexing and barcoding. His organisation, PersonalGenomes, provides the world’s only open-access information on human Genomic, Environmental and Trait data (GET). These led to the first genome sequence (pathogen, Helicobacter pylori) in 1994. This plus his lab’s work on chip-DNA-synthesis, gene editing and stem cell engineering resulted in founding additional application-based companies spanning fields of medical diagnostics (Knome/PierianDx, Alacris, Nebula Genomics, Veritas Genetics) and synthetic biology/therapeutics (AbVitro/Juno, Gen9/Ginkgo, Editas, Egenesis, enEvolv, WarpDrive).
“I tried to figure out which field would allow me not to specialise. I found crystallography” Professor George Church comments in his ideaXme interview.
Moreover, Church has also pioneered new privacy, biosafety, ELSI, environmental and biosecurity policies and has co-founded Nebula Genomics, a storage, sharing and computing platform for biomedical big data.
In addition to this, he is director of an IARPA BRAIN Project and NIH Center for Excellence in Genomic Science. His honors include election to NAS and NAE and Franklin Bower Laureate for Achievement in Science. He has co-authored 460 papers, 105 patent publications and one book, Regenesis.
This interview is also available in video format on ideaXme’s YouTube Channel
The interview with the genius of genetics
Ira Pastor, interviewer comments:
Today, as we continue our journey through the bio-architecture of the health aging process, we are going to take some time to hang out at the level of the genome, as well as at the level of the respective bio-products, both natural and “non-natural” that peel off of this genomic knowledge base, not only for the purposes of human health, but also for agriculture, energy, the environment, as well as some very novel possibilities, that for now I will classify as “other”.
A lot has changed since we first mapped the human genome back in 2003. But as time has moved on, we have learned so much more in terms of the complexity and uniqueness of this “genomic space”.
We’ve discovered that the genome is fluid and highly networked; filled with endless feedback loops and hierarchies of control. We’ve learnt that it contains intricate phenomena such as epistasis, pleiotropy, alternative splicing; it has an endless array of architecture based on all of its non-coding space; and the human genome is continually interacting with its environments, metabolic architecture of the cell, other cells, individuals, species, yielding variations in traits.
It’s truly a fascinating area, and one that we can leverage for so much possibility as far as human enhancement is concerned in the future.
There is no one better to join us in a discussion about these topics than Professor George Church, “the thought leader of all thought leaders in the genetics and synthetic biology space”.
Dr. Church is a geneticist, molecular engineer and chemist. He is the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT, and was a founding member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard.
His 1984 Harvard PhD included the first direct genome sequencing, molecular multiplexing and DNA barcoding, which eventually lead to the first complete genome sequence published of Helicobacter pylori.
He helped initiate the Human Genome Project in 1984 and the Personal Genome Project in 2005, which today provides the world’s only open-access human genome and trait database.
His innovations in “next generation” genome sequencing, synthesis and tissue engineering has resulted in over a dozen companies including those involved in medical genomics, synthetic biology, gene therapy and full human genome sequencing, as well as new privacy, biosafety and biosecurity policies.
He is also Director of the U.S. Department of Energy Technology Center and Director of the National Institutes of Health Center of Excellence in Genomic Science. He has received numerous awards including the 2011 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science from the Franklin Institute and election to the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering.
He is author of hundreds of peer publications and patents, including Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves and referred to on Amazon as “a Harvard biologist and master inventor” who explores “how new biotechnologies will enable us to bring species back from the dead, unlock vast supplies of renewable energy, and extend human life”.
On the show Professor Church talks to me about:
His background, how he became interested in science and genetics and how he finds himself at the epicenter of the translational biosciences space in 2019.
His exceptional amount of technology transfer linked biotech startup activities.
“One of the cool things about new transplantation..where you are not just chasing after organ donors…is that you can make something that is better than what you’d get from a human being. Something with low senescence, low pathogens..We know how to do that in animals… it could get so good that people might want to get organ transplants who don’t have failing organs.” Professor George Church comments in his ideaXme interview.
He reveals his genetic approaches to aging and the diseases of aging, which use combinatorial gene therapy strategies.
He talks of his activities in the world of synthetic biology.
He explains his thoughts on the colonization of space, as well as the de-extinction of mammoths, dinosaurs, and neanderthals.
Lastly, he tells me whom he would like to meet and the question/s he would like to ask that/those person/s.
“I am impressed by people who have an inter-disciplinary approach to the world,” mentions Professor George Church in his ideaXme interview
Credits: Ira Pastor interview video, text, and audio.
Follow Ira Pastor on Twitter: @IraSamuelPastor
If you enjoyed this interview, we think you like this one as well: Courageous ideas and breakthrough science.
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