Andrew Hessel: Difference between revisions

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<small>Andrew and Stephanie, Banff, Alberta, January 2006</small>
<small>Andrew and Stephanie, Banff, Alberta, January 2006</small>


==Background ==
== About ==


I received my MSc. in bacterial genomics from the University of Calgary in 1995I joined the Amgen Institute, a 120 person research facility located in Toronto, Canada, as a bioinformaticist and managerWorking as a bridge between the Institute, Amgen Inc., and Amgen Canada, I facilitated dozens of advanced research projects, many involving microarrays, genetic sequence analysis, and data miningToday, the Institute, no longer affiliated with Amgen, is known as the [http://www.campbellfamilyinstitute.com/Pages/Home/HomePage.aspx Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research].  In 2002, I was a co-founder of Miikana Therapeutics and helped create the virtual business model they successfully used.  Miikana was sold to Entremed in December, 2005 for $21 million plus milestones.
I am a consulting biologist and author interested in synthetic biology and open source biologyTo my mind, DNA is a programming language that scientists have been working to reverse engineer with increasing successSynthetic biology allows forward engineering, permitting scientists to write code ''de novo'' and allowing logical, ''fully understandable'' evolution of biological outputs ranging from single proteins to, eventually, synthetic cells and synthetic organismsI advocate the use of open source principles because in software development these ideas have led to robust code, highly skilled developer communities, and non-monopolistic pricing.  If the same results can be achieved in genome engineering, it could potentially create a more diversified and sustainable biotechnology industry.  These ideas are explored in ''[http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources2/toc.html Open Sources 2.0]'', published by O'Reilly.


== Synthetic Biology and Open Source ==
== Background ==


Since 2004, I have turned my attention exclusively to two areas: Synthetic Biology and Open Source, ideas I believe will have major impact on the biotechnology over the next two decadesMeanwhile, open source should provide new avenues for biotechnology to expand as an industry, if only by increasing competitionThe iGEM program allows me to explore the intersection of these ideas and determine what does and doesn't work in practical use.
I received my MSc. in bacterial genomics from the University of Calgary in 1995.  I joined the Amgen Institute, a 120 person research facility located in Toronto, Canada, as a bioinformaticist and manager.  Working as a bridge between the Institute, Amgen Canada, and Amgen Inc. (Thousand Oaks, CA), I facilitated dozens of advanced research projects involving microarrays, genetic sequence analysis, and data mining.  Today, the Institute, no longer affiliated with Amgen, is known as the [http://www.campbellfamilyinstitute.com/Pages/Home/HomePage.aspx Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research]In 2002, I co-founded of Miikana Therapeutics and helped create the virtual business model they successfully usedMiikana was sold to Entremed in December, 2005 for $21 million plus milestones.


=== Contact Information ===
=== Contact Information ===
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email: ahessel (at) gmail (dot) com  (the best way to contact me)
email: ahessel (at) gmail (dot) com  (the best way to contact me)


IM: sailingandrew (at) hotmail (dot) com or google chat.
Skype: search for "Andrew Hessel", ahessel (at) gmail (dot) com


Skype: search for "Andrew Hessel", ahessel (at) gmail (dot) com, or 'beakerandrew'
Letter post:  
 
Andrew Hessel
PO Box 57
Eagle Lake, Ontario
Canada K0M 1M0


home: 416.848.1725 (Toronto, eastern standard time)


== Notes and Pictures ==
== Notes and Pictures ==

Revision as of 09:15, 15 January 2007



Andrew and Stephanie, Banff, Alberta, January 2006

About

I am a consulting biologist and author interested in synthetic biology and open source biology. To my mind, DNA is a programming language that scientists have been working to reverse engineer with increasing success. Synthetic biology allows forward engineering, permitting scientists to write code de novo and allowing logical, fully understandable evolution of biological outputs ranging from single proteins to, eventually, synthetic cells and synthetic organisms. I advocate the use of open source principles because in software development these ideas have led to robust code, highly skilled developer communities, and non-monopolistic pricing. If the same results can be achieved in genome engineering, it could potentially create a more diversified and sustainable biotechnology industry. These ideas are explored in Open Sources 2.0, published by O'Reilly.

Background

I received my MSc. in bacterial genomics from the University of Calgary in 1995. I joined the Amgen Institute, a 120 person research facility located in Toronto, Canada, as a bioinformaticist and manager. Working as a bridge between the Institute, Amgen Canada, and Amgen Inc. (Thousand Oaks, CA), I facilitated dozens of advanced research projects involving microarrays, genetic sequence analysis, and data mining. Today, the Institute, no longer affiliated with Amgen, is known as the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research. In 2002, I co-founded of Miikana Therapeutics and helped create the virtual business model they successfully used. Miikana was sold to Entremed in December, 2005 for $21 million plus milestones.

Contact Information

email: ahessel (at) gmail (dot) com (the best way to contact me)

Skype: search for "Andrew Hessel", ahessel (at) gmail (dot) com

Letter post:

Andrew Hessel PO Box 57 Eagle Lake, Ontario Canada K0M 1M0


Notes and Pictures