Andrew Hessel

Andrew Hessel and friends at the 2007 iGEM Jamboree. I have the red glasses.

About

I work to promote synthetic biology, open source biology, and the international Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) program. To my mind, DNA is a programming language for processors we call cells. Synthetic biology allows true engineering of biology, with outputs that range from single proteins to new metabolic pathways and, eventually, synthetic cells or organisms. Since the designs are created by humans, one might think of this as memetic (idea-based) engineering/evolution.

I advocate the use of open source for programming DNA, since the free exchange of ideas maximizes innovation. In software development, open source has also led to robust code, highly skilled developer communities, and non-monopolistic pricing -- in other words, good things for end users. If the same results can be achieved in biological engineering, open source biology could potentially create a more diversified and sustainable biotechnology industry. These ideas are explored in Open Sources 2.0, which is published by O'Reilly and is, paradoxically, not open source. I'll send you a PDF if you ask for one.

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.

Since 2003, I have worked to raise awareness about synthetic biology and open source biology. As part of this work, I am founding an open source biotechnology company that will make individually personalized cancer therapeutics -- more on this soon. My efforts have been supported by the University of Oklahoma, the University of Toronto, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and most recently, by the Alberta Ingenuity Fund.