George Church
About George Church
George Church is a co-founder and advisor at multiple biotechnology companies, a professor at Harvard Medical School, and a pioneer in genome sequencing and synthetic biology.
Current Roles and Titles
George Church serves in multiple advisory and founding roles across various biotechnology and genetics companies. He is currently an advisor at Genome Compiler Corp. (TwistBio) and Genia Corp. in Mountain View, CA. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) at Intelligent Bio-Systems and 23andMe. Additionally, he holds founding positions at Gen9, Inc., Knome Inc., Joule Unlimited Technologies, LS9, Inc., and many others.
Educational Background
George Church has an extensive academic background, having attended several prestigious institutions. He studied at Phillips Andover, focusing on Science, Computer Science, and Photography. He then earned a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Zoology from Duke University and went on to study Microbiology & Biochemistry there. Church also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for Quantum Physics and Harvard Medical School. His formal education culminated at Harvard University, where he achieved a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Contributions to Genomics and Biotechnology
George Church has made groundbreaking contributions to genomics and biotechnology. He developed the first direct genomic sequencing method in 1984 and led the sequencing of the first genome of the human pathogen, Helicobacter pylori, in 1994. His innovations have influenced nearly all 'next generation' DNA sequencing methods and companies such as CGI-BGI, Life, Illumina, and Nanopore. His lab's research on chip-DNA-synthesis, gene editing, and stem cell engineering has led to the foundation of several companies in medical diagnostics and synthetic biology.
Academic Appointments
George Church holds multiple academic positions. He is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and a Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT. He is also an Associate at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. In his roles, he directs the U.S. Department of Energy Technology Center and the NIH Center of Excellence in Genomic Science. He also leads Synthetic Biology at the Wyss Institute.
Awards and Recognitions
George Church has received numerous awards and distinctions for his contributions to science. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering and a recipient of the Franklin Bower Laureate for Achievement in Science. He has coauthored over 460 papers, holds 105 patent publications, and has written a book titled 'Regenesis.' His pioneering work has earned him a notable place in the scientific community.