George Church, PhD
Professor
Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School
Personal Genome Project
Genomic DNA Sequencing Technologies; Gene Synthesis; Biofuel
Commercial Opportunities
The research in Dr. Church’s laboratory is distinguished by its significant potential for commercial applications in the fields of genomics and personalized medicine. The lab’s remarkable technological advances in genomic sequencing are not only benefiting research efforts in academia and industry, but is also setting the foundation for a new era in medical diagnostics and therapy. As additional knowledge is accumulated about the genetic cues that signal disease, the value of personalized genetic information will only increase. There will no doubt be numerous opportunities for developing new products from these studies, thus representing a unique opportunity for academic-corporate partnerships.
Personalized medicine will be a key component of the overall healthcare agenda in the coming decades, and necessitate enormous technological innovation. The lab’s work in the area of renewable biofuels is also highly relevant to technology and product development, particularly with the rapid depletion of the world’s fossil fuel reserves. Being able to work closely with one of the leaders in these area represents a unique opportunity for companies.
Current Research Interests
Dr. Church’s laboratory has been tremendously creative in applying advanced engineering and biochemical technologies to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of DNA sequencing. A series of breakthrough technological discoveries from the lab have had an enormous impact on one of the most important facets of modern biology, elucidating the genetic code of living organisms, and uncovering the “book of life”. The quest is now on for the $1000 human genome sequence (i.e., through the Personal Genome Project, of which Dr. Church is the scientific founder), and the lab is at the forefront of this endeavor. Having the ability to quickly and inexpensively decode an individual’s DNA will be a paradigm-shifting advance for personalized medicine, impacting diagnostics, therapy, and maybe most importantly, predictive medicine. Dr. Church has stated, “It’s like going through life without a mirror, and then suddenly being able to have one”*.
- Developing systems analysis research tools for use by the scientific community in applications involving DNA sequencing, molecular biology, and proteomics
- Extending their studies in synthetic biology, creating novel genes and genomes with high authenticity for use in studying basic biological questions
- Applying synthetic biology methodology to create biofuels as alternative energy sources
- Employing systems biology and computational biology approaches to understand genetic regulatory circuits
- Investigating their intriguing finding that some soil bacteria can subsist on toxic substances
*Quoted in “$1000 for Your Genome”, Douglas Starr, Boston Globe, Jan. 8th, 2006.
Research Expertise
Dr. Church’s laboratory has applied a variety of advanced and complementary technologies to answer key biological questions. The lab is also world renowned as a leader in developing innovative and cost-effective bioengineering methods for sequencing genomes and synthesizing genes. These pioneering studies are paving the way for advancing a wide variety of discovery efforts in biology as well as facilitate the advent of personalized medicine, and helping to achieve a historic milestone of the so-called $1000 human genome sequence. Dr. Church is competing for the X-Prize, instituted to spur the development of radical breakthroughs in genomic sequencing. The eventual achievement of routinely sequencing human genomes for a relatively nominal fee will be an enormous feat, providing a wealth of data for biologists, propel research into the etiology of disease, and radically alter medical diagnostics.
The lab has developed a variety of methods to accomplish genome sequencing in a more cost-effective fashion, such as the polymerase colony (i.e., “polony”) method, which is geared to high throughput sequencing. Polony DNA sequencing is a PCR-based method in which clonal DNA fragments are fluorescently labeled, sequenced, and subsequently aligned with a reference genome for comparative analysis. The lab has collaborated with numerous companies in developing or co-developing versatile molecular technologies in the areas of microfluidics, molecular mulitplexing, homologous recombination, and oligonucleotide arrays. Dr. Church’s lab has been a forerunner of synthetic biology, applying engineering modalities to develop new techniques for synthesis of genes as well as artificial genomes that have unique properties. The laboratory has presented a powerful method for constructing artificial genes called circular assembly amplification. Dr. Church’s lab has also applied synthetic biology to the development of hydrocarbon biofuels as alternative energy sources. These biofuels are clean, renewable, and competitive in price to fossil fuels. Dr. Church is a co-founder of LS9, Inc., which is commercializing biofuels .