ABOUT THE TEAM
Thanks to revolutionary technology developed in George Church’s lab, resurrecting the extinct woolly mammoth could soon become a reality. Meet the team doing the work at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard.
Members of the Woolly Mammoth Revival Team, Harvard University, Summer 2017. Pictured from L to R: Bobby Dhadwar, Eriona Hysolli, Ezra Frager, and George Church.
Members of the Woolly Mammoth Revival Team, Harvard University, February 2014. Pictured from L to R: Justin Quinn, Luhan Yang, Margo Monroe, Bobby Dhadwar, and George Church.
George Church, Ph.D.
George Church, Ph.D.Founding Core Faculty Member and Platform Lead for Synthetic Biology at Wyss Institute; Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School; Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT.
George leads the Synthetic Biology Platform, overseeing the directed evolution of molecules, polymers, and whole genomes to create new tools with applications in regenerative medicine and bioenergy.
Among his recent work at the Wyss Institute is the development of a technology for synthesizing whole genes, and potentially whole gene circuits, that is faster, more accurate, and significantly less expensive than current methods. George is widely recognized for his innovative contributions to genomic science and his many pioneering contributions to chemistry and biomedicine. In 1984, he developed the first direct genomic sequencing method, which resulted in the first commercial genome sequence (the human pathogen, H. pylori). He helped initiate the Human Genome Project in 1984 and the Personal Genome Project in 2005. George invented the broadly applied concepts of molecular multiplexing and tags, homologous recombination methods, and array DNA synthesizers. His many innovations have been the basis for a number of companies including Joule Unlimited, Inc. (solar fuels); LS9, Inc. (bio-petroleum); and Knome (full human genome sequencing).
George Church with “Emily,” a 50-year-old elephant at the Buttonwood Zoo in New Bedford, MA in the Fall of 2014.
Bobby Dhadwar
Bobby Dhadwar is a postdoctoral fellow in the George Church lab, primarily researching developing age-reversal and anti-aging technologies. He earned his Ph.D at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, where he developed new gene therapy strategies for blood disorders.
Luhan Yang
Luhan Yang completed her Ph.D training in human biology and translational medicine at Harvard. Currently, she is working at Dr. Church lab as a postdoc, further developing genome editing technology that she studied at her Ph. D. She is also a cofounder of a biotech startup EGenesis, aiming to create novel organisms for the benefit of human health.
Justin Quinn
Justin Quinn is a self-described 'Molecular Ninja'. He currently works in the Molecular Biology department at Warp Drive Bio, a company co-founded by George Church--- and using the state-of-the art techniques (Crispr) which we are intending to use for de-extinction genome editing.
Eriona Hysolli
Eriona Hysolli, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the laboratory of Dr. George Church at Harvard Medical School. Her research interests include mammoth de-extinction, site-specific DNA integration and efficient DNA delivery methods. Eriona received a Ph.D. from Yale University in 2015 studying the role of microRNAs in the reprogramming of human induced pluripotent cells.
