George Church is a pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic biology, and today his lab is simultaneously working to make humans immune to all viruses, eliminate genetic diseases, and reverse the effects of time. George will join SynBioBeta founder John Cumbers for a conversation about the state of the synthetic biology industry. In light of SARS-CoV-2, we’ll also ask what the coronavirus pandemic means to innovation, our community, and our relationship with society. We’ll discuss:

• How George’s work and experience color his view of the novel coronavirus
• How synthetic biology has surpassed or fallen short of his expectations
• How COVID-19 is changing how synthetic biology is regarded by public stakeholders
• Three trends George sees in the next five years

Wednesday, April 1, 2020, 8 am PacificGeorge Church is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Church is widely recognized for his innovative contributions to genomic science and his many pioneering contributions to chemistry and biomedicine. He developed the first direct genomic sequencing method and helped initiate the Human Genome Project, leading to a revolution in science and medicine whose impact is still being realized.