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DIY biology

Raymond McCauley: Be Your Own Scientist – Try It And See

March 2, 2012 by Socrates

https://media.blubrry.com/singularity/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/192594119-singularity1on1-10-raymond-mccauley.mp3

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Last week I interviewed Raymond McCauley for Singularity 1 on 1.

I met Raymond last summer at Singularity University where he is the Co-Chair of Biotechnology & Bioinformatics.

McCauley is one among many former hackers and computer scientists who went into the exploding biotech industry. He has an infectious passion for bioinformatics and a fantastic radio voice that simply disarms skepticism.

During our conversation we discuss issues such as Raymond’s background in hacking and computer science; his move to bioinformatics and his day-job at Genomera; his involvement in Singularity University and BioCurious; biology as the growth industry of the 21st century; the faster-than-exponential growth in genomic data; personal genomics and the promise of personalized medicine; the Oxford Nanopore DNA USB sequencer; DNA sequencing for less than a penny; synthetic biology and intellectual property rights; religion, philosophy and ethics.

My favorite thought that I will take away from Raymond:

“Be your own scientist! Find the simplest idea or thing that you can test, prototype, try it and see.”

I think that this is what true science is all about — Thank you, Raymond!

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation, or become a patron on Patreon.

 

Who is Raymond McCauley?

Raymond McCauley is Chief Science Officer at Genomera, Biotechnology & Bioinformatics Co-Chair at Singularity University and Co-Founder and Chief Architect at BioCurious.

Raymond is a bioinformaticist and computer scientist working on practical nanotechnology, genomics and bioinformatics. He was previously Senior Biomformatics Scientist at Illumina – a Bay Area biotechnology company that uses next-gen sequencing technologies to build applications in areas such as miRNA, ChlP-Seq, methylation and epigenomics. Before that, as a Sr Scientific Engineer at Ingenuity Systems (pathways analysis and systems biology software) he modeled metabolic and signaling pathways and built drug and disease models. At Rapigene (acquired by OUIAGEN) he built systems to support SNP genotyping work. Raymond has also done bioinformatics consulting for pharmaceutical companies and government agencies.

McCauley did his graduate studies at Stanford (bioinformatics) and at Texas A&M University, where he received his MS in Biochemistry and Biophysics.

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Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: DIY biology

Andrew Hessel: Don’t Fear Synthetic Biology

January 22, 2011 by Socrates

https://media.blubrry.com/singularity/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/187138524-singularity1on1-andrew-hessel-synthetic-biology.mp3

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Today I am very happy to have Andrew Hessel as my guest on Singularity 1 on 1. (As always, you can listen to or download the audio interview above, or scroll down and watch the video recording in full.)

During the interview, Andrew shares his truly infectious passion for synthetic biology and the unique opportunities that lie ahead of the budding first generation of DIY bio-hackers.

We also discuss a variety of other interesting issues such as the singularity, religion, the promise of personalized medicine as cancer treatment,  the risks and benefits of open-source synthetic biology, and the fact that biology is a dual-use technology.

I have to admit that I was so infected by Andrew’s passion and his unique, open-source approach that I couldn’t help but buy a 20 dollar share in the Pink Army Cooperative.

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation, or become a patron on Patreon.

Who is Andrew Hessel?

Andrew Hessel co-chairs the Bioinformatics and Biotechnology track at the Singularity University, an institution founded by futurist Ray Kurzweil and X Prize Foundation CEO Peter Diamandis, with sponsorship from world-leading organizations that include Google, Autodesk, and NASA. He is also the founder of the Pink Army Cooperative, a venture exploring open source personalized cancer therapies. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Futurist Magazine, H+, and Wired News.

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Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: DIY biology, singularity podcast, Synthetic biology

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Ethos: “Technology is the How, not the Why or What. So you can have the best possible How but if you mess up your Why or What you will do more damage than good. That is why technology is not enough.” Nikola Danaylov

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