Andrew Hessel

Andrew Hessel, August 2008, Nevada (photo: Hedley Jones)
hi-res photo of me

About

I promote and consult in synthetic biology technology and education, open source biology, and the international Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) program, primarily in Canada.

I consider DNA a programming language for processors we call cells. Synthetic biology facilitates the writing of DNA-based programs for biological systems, leading to applications that range from single proteins, to new metabolic pathways, to fully synthetic cells or organisms. Programming cells, although similar to programming computers, comes with far greater economic, social, ethical, and legal implications.

I advocate open source synthetic biology, for two reasons. First, because the free exchange of ideas seems to maximize the rate of innovation. Second, because I believe that transparency is the best ideology for managing complex systems. For example, in software development, open source has also led to robust code (security), highly skilled developer communities (education), and non-monopolistic pricing (fair economies). If transferable to biological engineering, open source could lead to a more diversified, and more sustainable, biotechnology industry. These ideas are explored in Open Sources 2.0, which is published by O'Reilly and is, ironically, not open source. I'll send you a PDF if you ask for one.

Background

In 1995, I joined Amgen, Inc. to provide bioinformatics support for the newly formed Amgen Institute, a 120 person research facility located in Toronto, Canada. There, I facilitated dozens of advanced research projects involving microarrays, genetic sequence analysis, and data mining, and also discovered a knack for strategy and project management. (Today, the institute is unaffiliated with Amgen and known as the Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute.) In 2002, I co-founded of Miikana Therapeutics, a drug development company. I resigned after the company operations were stable to explore my synthetic biology interests. In December, 2005, Miikana was sold to Entremed for $21 million plus milestones.

Since 2003, I have focused my attention on open source synthetic biology. Part of my broad education and outreach agenda includes the founding of an open source biotechnology company. I am based in Alberta, Canada, which is an ideal test bed for new technologies, but I also travel widely.

My role models include the fictional Nick Haflinger and Manfred Macx, a venture altruist:

"Manfred is at the peak of his profession, which is essentially coming up with whacky but workable ideas and giving them to people who will make fortunes with them. He does this for free, gratis. In return, he has virtual immunity from the tyranny of cash; money is a symptom of poverty, after all, and Manfred never has to pay for anything." -- Accelerando, by Charles Stross (2005)

My work has been supported by the University of Oklahoma, the University of Toronto, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Alberta Ingenuity Fund, and most recently, the Alberta Research Council.