George Church: Playing With Fire

George Church learns a lesson on the power of nature the hard way.

George Church is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Director of NIH Center for Excellence in Genomic Studies, and Director of PersonalGenomes.org, which provides the world's only open-access information on human genomic, environmental, and trait data. His 1984 Harvard PhD included the first methods for direct genome sequencing, molecular multiplexing, and barcoding. His innovations have contributed to nearly all "next generation" genome sequencing methods and companies. He has also pioneered new privacy, biosafety, environmental, and biosecurity policies. His honors include election to NAS, NAE, and Franklin Bower Laureate for Achievement in Science. He has coauthored 370 papers, 60 patents, and one book.