The Lonely Pipette : helping scientists do better science

TLP #20 : Have you tried multi-plexing ? - George Church

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Episode notes

In this episode, we talk to George Church about his successful career in DNA repair and his entrepreneurial adventures translating research findings into biotech companies

• George proudly describes himself as a biologist-engineer
• He ponders whether his dyslexia may have helped him by making him realize he was different from others when he was growing up
• He looks for projects in ‘exponential fields’ that combine pure scientific interest, technology breakthroughs and bring societal benefit.
• George cautions against using the word ‘impossible’
• He talks about how he has contributed to scientific and technology revolutions
• He emphasizes the important of considering ethics, safety and security at the outset of ambitious science projects
• George remembers how he reacted to having his genome sequenced and speculates about the future of digital genomics and NFTs
• When recruiting, he looks for people that are ‘nice’ and have deep knowledge in at least two different fields
• George gets up at 4:30 a.m. and his head is immediately whizzing with new ideas
• He tells us how much he learns from his grandchildren (and even mends their party dresses) 

He mentioned these projects, institutions, companies

• Harvard Medical School : https://hms.harvard.edu/ 
• Duke University: https://duke.edu/
• Harvard University : https://www.harvard.edu/
• NIH Brain Initiative : https://braininitiative.nih.gov/
• NIH Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS)  : https://www.genome.gov/Funded-Programs-Projects/Centers-of-Excellence-in-Genomic-Science
• Wyss Institute  : https://wyss.harvard.edu/
• Personal Genomes : https://www.personalgenomes.org/
• TIME 100 Most Influential People : https://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4742749/george-church/
• Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves : https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/george-m-church/regenesis/9780465038657/
• Nebula Genomics : https://nebula.org/george-church/
• 23andMe : https://www.23andme.com/
• Biogen : https://www.biogen.com/
• Gail Martin : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_R._Martin

To find out more about George :

• Church Lab Website : https://arep.med.harvard.edu/
• George on Twitter : https://twitter.com/geochurch

To find out more about Renaud :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/LePourpre
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaudpourpre/

To find out more about Jonathan :

• Twitter : https://twitter.com/Epigenetique
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanweitzman/%20

To learn more about the soundtrack :
Music by Amaria - Lovely Swindler
https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique/
https://twitter.com/amariamusique