Andrew Hessel

Andrew and Stephanie, Banff, Alberta, January 2006

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 research operations manager. Working as a bridge between the Institute, Amgen Inc., and Amgen Canada, I facilitated dozens of advanced research projects, many 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 was a co-founder of Miikana Therapeutics and helped devise the "virtual" business model they used. Miikana was sold to Entremed in December, 2005.

Synthetic Biology and Open Source

Since 2004, I have turned my attention to two areas: Synthetic Biology and Open Source. I believe both will have the most impact on the biotechnology over the next twenty years. Synthetic Biology will replace classical genetic engineering for the same reasons I am writing this text on a computer, not a typewriter.

I predict SB will overtake computers as the next big thing, and that it will be where all the super-smart people want to play. Sexy little startups that make big pharma and big biotech look slow and dull are already popping up. Soon, serious money is going to flood the synthetic world. When it does, people could get really stupid and greedy for a while, like the dot com boom. Except with biology, companies will be playing with far higher stakes: human health, the environment, the mind, artificial life, etc. It's impossible to put a dollar price on these things, but that's not going to stop people from trying.

Hence my interest in Open Source. I believe OS to be the strongest counterbalance to proprietary business now that government and academia has become entrepreneurial. It's also great fun, since OS values community, intellectual challenges, and creative freedom over dollars (which are really quite dull). In computing, Open source has also proven capable of delivering exceptional products to market without eroding the public commons. This means few lawyers, faster innovation, healthy competition and more choices for consumers.

Current Work

I am currently working with Randy Rettberg to help evolve the iGEM program, which I perceive as the first practical experimentation with Open Source Synthetic Biology. For 2006, I am serving as the ambassador for about 10 schools, including Canada and the US midwest, and hope to share a lot of useful information between the participating teams. When I'm not working with teams, I intend to focus on fundraising and media relations efforts.

Contact Information

email: ahessel (at) gmail (dot) com (the best way to contact me)

IM: sailingandrew (at) hotmail (dot) com or google chat.

Skype: search for ahessel (at) gmail (dot) com or 'beakerandrew'

home: 416.848.1725 (Toronto, eastern standard time)