Eric Steven Lander (born February 3,1957) is an American mathematician and geneticist who is a professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),and a professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School. Eric Lander is founding director emeritus of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. [5]
Lander served as the 11th director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Science Advisor to the President in Joe Biden's presidential Cabinet. [6] [1] [7] [8] In response to allegations that he had engaged in bullying and abusive conduct,Lander apologized and resigned from the Biden Administration effective February 18,2022. [9] [10]
Lander was born in Brooklyn,New York City, [11] to Jewish parents, [12] the son of Rhoda G. Lander,a social studies teacher,and Harold Lander,an attorney. [13] He was captain of the math team at Stuyvesant High School, [14] graduating in 1974 as valedictorian and an International Mathematical Olympiad Silver Medalist for the U.S. [15] At age 17,he wrote a paper on quasiperfect numbers,for which he won the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. [15]
After graduating from Stuyvesant High School as valedictorian in 1974,Lander graduated from Princeton University in 1978 as valedictorian and with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. [15] [16] He completed his senior thesis,"On the structure of projective modules",under John Coleman Moore's supervision. [17] He then moved to the University of Oxford where he was a Rhodes Scholar and student of Wolfson College,Oxford. [18] He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree by the University of Oxford in 1980 with a thesis on algebraic coding theory and symmetric block designs supervised by Peter Cameron. [19]
During his career,Lander has worked on human genetic variation,human population history,genome evolution,non-coding RNAs,three-dimensional folding of the human genome and genome-wide association studies to discover the genes essential for biological processes using CRISPR-based editing.
As a mathematician,Lander studied combinatorics and applications of representation theory to coding theory. He enjoyed mathematics but did not wish to spend his life in such a "monastic" career. [20] Unsure what to do next,he took a job teaching managerial economics at Harvard Business School. At the suggestion of his brother,developmental biologist Arthur Lander,he started to look at neurobiology,saying at the time,"because there's a lot of information in the brain". [21] To understand mathematical neurobiology,he felt he had to study cellular neurobiology;this,in turn,led to studying microbiology and eventually genetics. "When I finally feel I have learned genetics,I should get back to these other problems. But I'm still trying to get the genetics right",Lander said.
Lander later became acquainted with David Botstein,a geneticist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Botstein was working on a way to unravel how subtle differences in complex genetic systems can become disorders such as cancer,diabetes,schizophrenia,and even obesity. The two collaborated to develop a computer algorithm to analyze the maps of genes. [20] In 1986 Lander joined the Whitehead Institute and became an assistant professor at MIT. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1987. In 1990,he founded the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research (WICGR).[ citation needed ] The WICGR became one of the world's leading centers of genome research,and under Lander's leadership made great progress in developing new methods of analyzing mammalian genomes. It also made important breakthroughs in applying this information to the study of human genetic variation and formed the basis for the foundation of the Broad Institute—a transformation Lander spearheaded. [22]
Two main groups attempted to sequence the human genome. The first was the Human Genome Project,a loosely organized,publicly funded effort that intended to publish the information it obtained freely and without restrictions. Many research groups from countries all over the world were involved in this effort. The second was undertaken by Celera Genomics,which intended to patent the information obtained and charge subscriptions for use of the sequence data. Established first,the Human Genome Project moved slowly in the early phases as the Department of Energy's role was unclear and sequencing technology was in its infancy. Officially,the Human Genome Project had an eight-year head start before Celera entered the race,though discussions for the Human Genome Project began fourteen years before Celera announced their own project. [23] [24] Because the Human Genome Project was a $3 billion publicly funded venture, [23] the consortia raced to enter as much of the human genome into the public domain as quickly as possible once Celera began work in 1998. This was a change of strategy for the Human Genome Project,because many scientists at the time wanted to establish a more complete copy of the genome,not simply publish the many fragments individually. Lander aggressively pressured Human Genome Project scientists to work longer and faster to publish genome fragments before Celera. [25] Lander himself is now listed on 73 patents and patent applications related to genomics. [26]
In February 2001,both the Human Genome Project and Celera published drafts of the human genome in the scientific journals Nature [27] and Science, [28] respectively. In the Human Genome Project's Nature publication,the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research,Center for Genome Research,was listed first,with Lander listed as the first named author. [27] [29]
Leveraging Celera's sequencing and analysis techniques,the Whitehead Institute also made a contribution to the sequencing of the mouse genome, [30] an important step in fully understanding the molecular biology of mice,which are often used as model organisms in studies of everything from human diseases to embryonic development. The WICGR has since sequenced the genomes of Ciona savignyi (sea squirt), [31] the pufferfish, [32] the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa , [33] and multiple relatives of Saccharomyces cerevisiae , [34] one of the most studied yeasts. The Ciona savignyi genome provides a good system for exploring the evolutionary origins of all vertebrates. Pufferfish have smaller-sized genomes than other vertebrates;as a result,their genomes are "mini" models for vertebrates. The sequencing of the yeasts related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae will facilitate the identification of key gene regulatory elements,some of which may be common to all eukaryotes (including both plant and animal kingdoms).[ citation needed ]
Lander was the founding editor of the Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics . [35] He remained editor till 2004.
Lander is the founding director of the Broad Institute,a collaboration between MIT,Harvard,the Whitehead Institute,and affiliated hospitals. [36] Its goal is "to bring the power of genomics to bear on the understanding of disease and to accelerate the search for cures." [36] In particular,Lander has discovered scientific facts in cell biology and molecular biology of cancer,as well as push precision medicine approaches. [37] He is often credited as among the drivers for the Broad Institute's meteoric rise during the 16 years he was a director. [37]
During the Obama presidency,Lander cochaired the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. [38]
Lander toasted to James Watson in 2018 for his 90th birthday,which caused controversy in the wake of Watson's widely criticized comments around intelligence and race. [39] [40] [41] Lander had included a brief aside in his toast stating that Watson was flawed,but still later apologized for his toast after significant outrage from academics on Twitter. [39] STAT News noted that other scientists had also similarly toasted Watson,but had not elicited similar outrage. [42]
Lander received criticism in the past for allegedly diminishing the accomplishments of Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier after publishing "The Heroes of CRISPR" in Cell. [43] [44] [40] Some argued that his article was misogynistic for having removed women scientists from history. [40] Of particular note,Lander was accused of a conflict of interest,as the Broad Institute had been competing with UC Berkeley for patent rights to commercialize CRISPR. [44] Lander responded by suggesting he had not meant "to diminish anybody" and noted that science is collaborative by nature. [44] Criticism was particularly harsh online by other academics and biologists,due to previous resentment with Lander. [45] During questioning for his role of Science Advisor to the President,Lander admitted that he had made a mistake in understating the accomplishments of Doudna and Charpentier. [40]
In 1989,Lander provided expert testimony in the New York criminal case People v. Castro. He showed that the then-current method of interpreting DNA evidence was liable to give false positive matches,implicating innocent defendants. [46] [47] [48] Two of the defense attorneys in that case,Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck,went on to found the Innocence Project,an organization that uses DNA analysis to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners. Lander is a member of the Innocence Project's board of directors. [49]
In January 2021,President-elect Joe Biden nominated Lander as Science Advisor to the President and announced that he would elevate the position to a Cabinet-level post. [6] In January 2021,500 female scientists published an editorial in Scientific American to consider naming someone else to the position,because he was well known within the scientific community for offending women. [41] [50] His nomination had been held up possibly due to requests for clarification about his having attended two gatherings where Jeffrey Epstein,a wealthy large-scale donor to science who was also a convicted sex offender,was present. [40] [51] He was also questioned about accusations of sexism and his toast to James Watson. [40] [52] On April 29,a confirmation hearing was held in the Senate Committee on Commerce,Science,and Transportation. [53] [54] On May 20,the committee voted to report favorably on the nomination,with five Republican senators voting against. [55] On May 28,2021,before a Memorial Day recess,his nomination was confirmed by voice vote by the full Senate. Lander was sworn in as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy on June 2,2021. He took his oath using a rare 1492 copy of the Pirkei Avot. [56]
On February 7,2022, Politico reported on a White House investigation in which fourteen current and former Office of Science and Technology Policy staffers accused Lander on February 4 of having bullied and demeaned his subordinates. [57] Lander admitted to the behavior and issued an apology to staff on February 4,his apology includes,"I am devastated that I caused hurt to past and present colleagues by the way in which I have spoken to them... I believe it is not possible to continue effectively in my role,and the work of this office is far too important to be hindered." [58] He later resigned on February 7. [59] [60]
Since 2023,Eric Lander has returned to his tenured professor positions at MIT and Harvard as well as the Broad Institute as a Core Institute Member and Founding Director Emeritus. [61] [62] While some opinion pieces argued that "Eric Lander is getting uncanceled", [63] The Chronicles of Higher Education noted that some staffers at the Broad expressed alarm at Lander's sudden return without further discussion from their leadership. [62] In 2023,Lander started a non-profit called Science for America focused on "moonshot" ideas such as nuclear fusion or cancer research. [61]
In 1999,Lander received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. [64]
In 2004,Lander was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of our time for his work on the Human Genome Project. He has appeared in numerous PBS documentaries about genetics. He was ranked #2 on the MIT150 list of MIT's innovators and ideas. [65]
In December 2008,Lander and Harold E. Varmus were named co-chairs of the Obama administration's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. In 2012 he received the Dan David Prize. [66]
Lander is a member of the advisory board to the USA Science and Engineering Festival. [67]
In 2013,Lander was awarded the first Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. [68] [69] In 2016,Semantic Scholar AI program ranked him #1 on its list of most influential biomedical researchers. [70]
In 2016,he received the Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics from the Association for Molecular Pathology. [71]
In 2017,Lander received an honoris causa doctorate from the Universitécatholique de Louvain. [72] Also in 2017,he received the William Allan Award from the American Society of Human Genetics. [73]
In 2019,he served on the Life Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize. In 2020,Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Pontifical Academy of Science. [74] In 2021,Lander,who holds many patents,disclosed ownership of assets worth more than $45 million. [75]
John Craig Venter is an American biotechnologist and businessman. He is known for leading one of the first draft sequences of the human genome and assembled the first team to transfect a cell with a synthetic chromosome. Venter founded Celera Genomics,the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). He was the co-founder of Human Longevity Inc. and Synthetic Genomics. He was listed on Time magazine's 2007 and 2008 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. In 2010,the British magazine New Statesman listed Craig Venter at 14th in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010". In 2012,Venter was honored with Dan David Prize for his contribution to genome research. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2013. He is a member of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's advisory board.
Celera Corporation is a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics which focuses on genetic sequencing and related technologies. It was founded in 1998 as a business unit of Applera,spun off into an independent company in 2008,and finally acquired by Quest Diagnostics in 2011.
The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) is a non-profit organization founded in 1988. HUGO represents an international coordinating scientific body in response to initiatives such as the Human Genome Project. HUGO has four active committees,including the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC),and the HUGO Committee on Ethics,Law and Society (CELS).
The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard,often referred to as the Broad Institute,is a biomedical and genomic research center located in Cambridge,Massachusetts,United States. The institute is independently governed and supported as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization under the name Broad Institute Inc.,and it partners with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Harvard University,and the five Harvard teaching hospitals.
William James Kent is an American research scientist and computer programmer. He has been a contributor to genome database projects and the 2003 winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award.
George McDonald Church is an American geneticist,molecular engineer,chemist,serial entrepreneur,and pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic biology. He is the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School,Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology,and a founding member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.
The Baskin School of Engineering,known simply as Baskin Engineering,is the school of engineering at the University of California,Santa Cruz. It consists of six departments:Applied Mathematics,Biomolecular Engineering,Computational Media,Computer Science and Engineering,Electrical and Computer Engineering,and Statistics.
The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA,and of identifying,mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a physical and a functional standpoint. It started in 1990 and was completed in 2003. It remains the world's largest collaborative biological project. Planning for the project started after it was adopted in 1984 by the US government,and it officially launched in 1990. It was declared complete on April 14,2003,and included about 92% of the genome. Level "complete genome" was achieved in May 2021,with only 0.3% of the bases covered by potential issues. The final gapless assembly was finished in January 2022.
Vamsi K. Mootha is an Indian-born American physician–scientist and computational biologist. He is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute,Professor of Systems Biology and Medicine at Harvard Medical School,Investigator in the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also an Institute Member of the Broad Institute.
Pardis Christine Sabeti is an American computational biologist,medical geneticist,and evolutionary geneticist. She is a professor in the Center for Systems Biology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University,professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,core institute member at the Broad Institute,and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
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Applera Corporation of Norwalk,Connecticut,at #874 on the 2007 Fortune 1000 list,was one of the largest international biotechnology companies based in the United States. It was the successor company to what was the Life Sciences Division of Perkin-Elmer Corporation. Applera was not publicly traded,but instead it consisted of two major groups which are publicly traded tracking stocks in the proteomics industrial sector. These two groups were the S&P 500 listed Applera Corp-Applied Biosystems Group of Foster City,California,and Applera Corp-Celera Genomics Group of Rockville,Maryland. In 2006,the company spun off the Celera Genomics group and changed its name from Applera to Applied Biosystems.
Eugene Wimberly "Gene" Myers,Jr. is an American computer scientist and bioinformatician,who is best known for contributing to the early development of the NCBI's BLAST tool for sequence analysis.
Jennifer Anne Doudna is an American biochemist who has pioneered work in CRISPR gene editing,and made other fundamental contributions in biochemistry and genetics. Doudna was one of the first women to share a Nobel in the sciences. She received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry,with Emmanuelle Charpentier,"for the development of a method for genome editing." She is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair Professor in the department of chemistry and the department of molecular and cell biology at the University of California,Berkeley. She has been an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1997.
Feng Zhang is a Chinese–American biochemist. Zhang currently holds the James and Patricia Poitras Professorship in Neuroscience at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research and in the departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also has appointments with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He is most well known for his central role in the development of optogenetics and CRISPR technologies.
Mark Joseph Daly is Director of the Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine (FIMM) at the University of Helsinki,a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School,Chief of the Analytic and Translational Genetic Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital,and a member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. In the early days of the Human Genome Project,Daly helped develop the genetic model by which linkage disequilibrium could be used to map the haplotype structure of the human genome. In addition,he developed statistical methods to find associations between genes and disorders such as Crohn's disease,inflammatory bowel disease,autism and schizophrenia.
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He Jiankui is a Chinese biophysicist who was an associate professor in the Department of Biology of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen,China. Earning his Ph.D. from Rice University in Texas on protein evolution,including that of CRISPR,He learned gene-editing techniques (CRISPR/Cas9) as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in California.
CRISPR gene editing is a genetic engineering technique in molecular biology by which the genomes of living organisms may be modified. It is based on a simplified version of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 antiviral defense system. By delivering the Cas9 nuclease complexed with a synthetic guide RNA (gRNA) into a cell,the cell's genome can be cut at a desired location,allowing existing genes to be removed and/or new ones added in vivo.
DNA:The Story of Life is a four-part Channel 4 documentary series on the discovery of DNA,broadcast in 2003.
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