Biotech, people, Sequencing

Sequencing the DNA of Local Innovation

Rebecca Zacks 7/31/07

A little over a week ago, legendary venture capitalist Esther Dyson explained her reasons for being one of the first 10 people to have their genomes sequenced—and made publicly available—for Harvard Medical School professor George Church’s Personal Genome Project. Yesterday, Church revealed all but one of the rest of the folks on that list. (One volunteer evidently wished to remain anonymous.)

Blaine Bettinger at The Genetic Genealogist has nice bios of all the named volunteers. Not surprisingly, several members of the local innovation community are included:

—Keith Batchelder, founder and CEO of Genomic Healthcare Strategies, a personalized-medicine consulting firm in Charlestown

—John D. Halamka, whose many appointments include CIO at Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard Clinical Research Institute

—Stanley N. Lapidus, president and CEO of gene-sequencing-technology firm Helicos in Kendall Square

—James L. Sherley, the controversial ex-MIT stem-cell scientist

—and, of course, Church himself.