Andrew Hessel

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Andrew Hessel, speaker on stage at the BIF Conference in 2018
Hessel at the BIF Conference in 2018

Andrew Hessel is a pioneer in synthetic biology,[1] a futurist,[2] microbiologist and geneticist, and inventor and entrepreneur.[3] He is a proponent of open source biology and advocates that cells are living computers and DNA is a programming language.[4][5][6] He has been advocating for writing DNA since shortly after the original Human Genome Project,[7][8][9][10] and co-founded the Genome Project-write.[11][12] Hessel is an expert in biological technologies and biosecurity, helping industry, academics, and authorities better understand the rapid changes in life science.

Life and Education[edit]

Andrew Hessel was born in Canada and currently resides in the United States. He received a M.Sc. in biology from University of Calgary in 1995.[13]

Career and Entrepreneurship[edit]

Andrew Hessel is a serial entrepreneur. In 2002, he co-founded Miikana Therapeutics, a clinical-stage drug development company.[13] In 2009 he founded Pink Army Cooperative, the world’s first cooperative biotechnology company, which aimed to make open source viral therapies for cancer.[14] Hessel is founding faculty and former co-chair of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology at Singularity University where he worked to develop the Life Sciences track.[15][16] From 2012 to 2018, Hessel was a Distinguished Researcher in the Bio/Nano Programmable Matter department at Autodesk.[17][18] Hessel then co-founded the Genome Project-write in 2016 where he is currently Chairman of the Board and Co-Executive Director.[19] In 2017, Hessel co-founded Humane Genomics, Inc., which uses synthetic virus engineering to target cancer cells.[20]

He previously worked at the Amgen Institute and he was a fellow at the Institute for Science, Society, and Policy at the University of Ottawa.[13]

Genome Project-write (GPW)[edit]

Hessel is a long time proponent of writing DNA and was the catalyst behind the Genome Project-write (GPW).[8][12] In 2012, he published an article about the next Human Genome Project.[7] It gained little traction. Three years later in 2015 at the fourth Sc2.0 Conference, a meeting of scientists working on the yeast genome led by Jef Boeke, Nancy J. Kelley posed the question, “Well, what’s the next grand challenge for this community?” Hessel replied “Well, there’s only one grand challenge in synthetic biology to my mind, and that is to synthesize a human genome."[8] Hessel then approached geneticist George Church at Harvard and asked him to lead the project.[21] Together, Hessel, Church, Kelley and Boeke co-founded the Genome Project-write in 2016.[22][23] Autodesk provided the seed funding to launch the Genome Project-write.[24]

The project launched to controversy over its perceived secrecy. The founders were forbidden to discuss the project openly with the press due to an embargo by Science magazine, which had delayed its publication of their foundational papers until after the scheduled meeting.[8][25] The project also encountered mixed response within the synthetic biology and scientific community.[26][27][28]

Work[edit]

Hessel was an early supporter of, ambassador to, and judge at the international Genetically Engineered Machines iGEM competitions at MIT, helping it grow in its early stages.[13]

While at Autodesk, Hessel, along with Paul Jaschke and Jacqueline Quinn, designed and synthesized φX174 in under three weeks and for approximately $1000USD using digital tools.[29][30] It exemplified the rapid advancement of tools in synthetic biology. Paola Antonelli, the director of R&D at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC acquired the symbolic 3D printed plastic virus of φX174 as the first engineered organism in MoMA’s collection.[31][32][33]

In 2015, Hessel became a AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassador[34][35][36] after being nominated by his friend and renowned mycologist, Paul Stamets, who had been in the inaugural class of Invention Ambassadors. The program inspired Hessel to approach George Church to co-found the Genome Project-write.[8]

In February 2022, Hessel's book, The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology with futurist Amy Webb was published by PublicAffairs/Hachette Book Group.[37] It was a New Yorker Best Book of 2022.[38]

Hessel regularly speaks to private and public audiences on biotechnology and biodefense topics for groups such as EY, CERN, Stanford,[3] the FBI,[39] the United Nations, ISHI, Singularity University,[40][15] Forbes, and TEDx.[41] He has been listed as a participant or member of think tanks and organizations such as the Berggruen Institute,[42] Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA),[43] and the Long Now Foundation.

Ideas[edit]

Hessel has publicly shared other futurist ideas about life underground,[44][45][46] human cloning[47] and biobanking.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Burke, Adrienne. "From Homebrew Computers To Biohacking: Innovators Of Two Generations". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  2. ^ "5 Futurists To Watch In Uncertain Times". Forbes. 2023-04-15. Archived from the original on 2023-04-15. Retrieved 2023-08-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ a b "Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology". Stanford Biosecurity (in Samoan). Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  4. ^ The Next Software Revolution: Life. | Andrew Hessel | TEDxSanFrancisco, retrieved 2023-08-26
  5. ^ "Great Thinkers: Interview with Andrew Hessel, CEO of Humane Genomics". 2019-06-06. Archived from the original on 2019-06-06. Retrieved 2023-08-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ Saenz, Aaron (2009-11-17). "Andrew Hessel's Singularity University Talk on Synthetic Biology (Video)". Singularity Hub. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  7. ^ a b "Time for Another Human Genome Project? | HuffPost Impact". 2023-05-23. Archived from the original on 2023-05-23. Retrieved 2023-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ a b c d e "The Human Operating System Gets an Overhaul - proto.life". 2023-08-26. Archived from the original on 2023-08-26. Retrieved 2023-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "Whole-Genome Synthesis Will Transform Cell Engineering - Scientific American". Scientific American. 2020-11-13. Archived from the original on 2020-11-13. Retrieved 2023-08-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. ^ Hessel, Andrew (2023-04-25). "A love letter to DNA". Medium. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  11. ^ "About". The Center of Excellence for Engineering Biology. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  12. ^ a b Boeke, Jef D.; Church, George; Hessel, Andrew; Kelley, Nancy J.; Arkin, Adam; Cai, Yizhi; Carlson, Rob; Chakravarti, Aravinda; Cornish, Virginia W.; Holt, Liam; Isaacs, Farren J.; Kuiken, Todd; Lajoie, Marc; Lessor, Tracy; Lunshof, Jeantine (2016-07-08). "The Genome Project-Write". Science. 353 (6295): 126–127. Bibcode:2016Sci...353..126B. doi:10.1126/science.aaf6850. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 27256881. S2CID 206649424.
  13. ^ a b c d Hessel, Andrew (2023-08-26). "Andrew Hessel LinkedIn Profile - Experiences". LinkedIn. Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  14. ^ Vance, Ashlee (2010-03-20). "Would You Pay $20 for Access to a Breast Cancer Cure?". Bits Blog. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  15. ^ a b "Andrew Hessel - Experts - Singularity". www.su.org. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  16. ^ An Introduction to Synthetic Biology with Andrew Hessel | Singularity University, retrieved 2023-08-27
  17. ^ "Andrew Hessel | Autodesk Research". 2018-03-27. Archived from the original on 2018-03-27. Retrieved 2023-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ^ "Andrew Hessel's Autodesk Team Seeks Crowdsourced Cancer Cure". Bloomberg.com. 2014-03-21. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  19. ^ "GP-write Leadership". The Center of Excellence for Engineering Biology. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  20. ^ "Team". Humane Genomics. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  21. ^ "The Human Genome Project-Write is working to synthesise the building blocks of our DNA | WIRED UK". 2017-02-27. Archived from the original on 2017-02-27. Retrieved 2023-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. ^ Associates, Nancy J. Kelley +. "The Genome Project-write (HGP-write) to Launch in 2016". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  23. ^ "Genome Project-write to Launch in 2016". NYU Langone News. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  24. ^ Autodesk (2016-06-02). "Why Autodesk is all-in on the Genome Project-write (HGP-write)". Medium. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  25. ^ Yong, Ed (2017-05-10). "Now That We Can Read Genomes, Can We Write Them?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  26. ^ magazine, Ewen Callaway,Nature. "Plan to Synthesize Human Genome Triggers a Mixed Response". Scientific American. Retrieved 2023-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ "Is the World Ready for Synthetic People?". proto.life. 2018-04-05. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  28. ^ Pollack, Andrew (2016-06-02). "Scientists Announce HGP-Write, Project to Synthesize the Human Genome". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  29. ^ Temple, James (2014-05-05). "Autodesk Builds Its Own Virus, as the Software Giant Develops Design Tools for Life Itself". Vox. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  30. ^ "Synthetic PhiX174 Bacteriophage (Hessel, Quinn & Jaschke)". Design and Violence. 2015-03-18. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  31. ^ "Andrew John Hessel | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  32. ^ "Andrew John Hessel, Jacqueline Yuan Quinn, Autodesk Inc., Paul Richard Ayre Jaschke. Synthetic PhiX174 Bacteriophage. 2014 | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  33. ^ Hessel 01.2021, Andrew. "The Age of Reinvention". Biodesigned. Retrieved 2023-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ "AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassadors Program |". 2017-06-28. Archived from the original on 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2023-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  35. ^ "Andrew Hessel | AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassadors Program". 2018-02-03. Archived from the original on 2018-02-03. Retrieved 2023-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  36. ^ Zielinski, Sarah (2015-07-31). "Invention ambassadors challenge others to follow innovation path". Science. 349 (6247): 489. doi:10.1126/science.349.6247.489. ISSN 0036-8075.
  37. ^ Webb, Amy; Hessel, Andrew (2021-06-07). The Genesis Machine. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-5417-9793-2.
  38. ^ "The Best Books of 2022". The New Yorker. 2022-10-26. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  39. ^ "Crime and Science Radio: Biotechnology and WMDs: An Interview with the FBI's Betsy Glick and Edward You, and Biotech Futurist Andrew Hessel, Parts 1 and 2". The Crime Fiction Writer's Blog. 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  40. ^ Biotechnology/Nanotechnology | Andrew Hessel | SingularityU Germany Summit 2017, retrieved 2023-08-27
  41. ^ "Speaker Bio - Andrew Hessel". TEDxSanFrancisco. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  42. ^ "Andrew Hessel - People - Berggruen Institute". 2020-09-22. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2023-08-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  43. ^ "Who we are". GESDA - Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  44. ^ "Genetic Dreams to Underground Regimes: Andrew Hessel Takes on Digital and Physical Biology. — Messaginglab". 2023-08-27. Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  45. ^ "The Surprising Path to Life on Mars: First, Go Underground? – The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss". 2022-02-09. Archived from the original on 2022-02-09. Retrieved 2023-08-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  46. ^ Hessel, Andrew (2023-06-04). "We are explorers. In addition to venturing into space, I've come to believe we should be building down into the Earth and developing underground cities. Here are some reasons why". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  47. ^ "Human cloning offers immortality, sort of. | by Andrew Hessel | Bioeconomy.XYZ | Sep, 2022 | Medium". 2022-09-29. Archived from the original on 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2022-11-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

External links[edit]

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