Jo Zayner | |
|---|---|
 Josie Zayner PhD holding a hamster | |
| Born | February 8, 1981 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Bio-engineer, biohacker, and CEO of The ODIN |
| Known for | Self-experimentation with genetic material |
Jo Zayner (formerly Josiah Zayner; alternatively Josie; born February 8, 1981) is a biohacker, artist, and scientist best known for their self-experimentation and work making hands-on genetic engineering accessible to a lay audience, including CRISPR.
At the age of 19, Zayner worked at Motorola as a programmer. She has a BA in plant biology from Southern Illinois University and a Ph.D in biophysics (2013) from the University of Chicago. Before receiving their Ph.D, Zayner earned a MSc in cell and molecular biology from Appalachian State University. [1]
Zayner spent two years as a researcher at the Mountain View, California's NASA Ames Space Synthetic Biology Research Center, [2] [3] where they worked on Martian colony habitat design. While at the agency, Zayner also analyzed speech patterns in online chat, Twitter, and books, and found that language on Twitter and online chat is closer to how people talk than to how they write. [4] Zayner found NASA's scientific work less innovative than she expected, and upon leaving in January 2016, she launched a crowdfunding campaign to provide CRISPR kits to let the general public experiment with editing bacterial DNA. Zayner also continued their grad school business, The ODIN, which sells kits to let the general public experiment at home. The company's main adviser is George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and director of PersonalGenomes.org. [3] In May 2016, The ODIN had four employees and operated out of Zayner's garage. [2]
Zayner self-identifies as a biohacker and believes in the importance of letting the general public participate in scientific experimentation, rather than leaving it segregated to labs. [2] [5] [6] Zayner found the academic biohacking community to be exclusive and hierarchical, particularly with respect to the types of people who decide what is "safe". She hope that their projects can let even more people experiment in their homes. Other scientists have responded that biohacking is inherently exclusive for its dependence on leisure time and money, and that deviance from general safety rules could lead to even harsher regulations for all. [7] Zayner's public CRISPR kit campaign coincided with wider public scrutiny over genetic modification. [8] Zayner maintained that these fears were based on misunderstandings of the product, as genetic experiments on yeast and bacteria cannot produce a viral epidemic. [9] [10] In April 2015, Zayner ran a hoax on Craigslist to raise awareness about the future potential of forgery in forensic genetic testing. [11] In 2017 during a biotechnology conference in San Francisco, Zayner publicly injected themselves with CRISPR and is the first known person to do so. [12] [13] Zayner targeted the myostatin gene, which encodes a protein that inhibits muscle growth, acting as a natural regulator to prevent excessive muscle development. By using CRISPR technology, they aimed to "knock out" this gene in the muscle cells of their forearm. The intent was to disrupt the gene's function, potentially allowing for localized muscle growth. [14] [15] [16] Zayner's CRISPR kit was displayed at the Cooper Hewitt's 2019 Nature Design Triennial. [17]
In February 2016, Zayner attempted a full body microbiome transplant on themselves, including a fecal transplant, to experiment with microbiome engineering and to see if she could treat her gastrointestinal and other health issues. The microbiome from the donor's feces successfully transplanted in Zayner's gut according to DNA sequencing done on samples. [2] This experiment was documented by filmmakers Kate McLean and Mario Furloni and turned into the short documentary film Gut Hack. [18]
In December 2016, Zayner created a fluorescent beer by engineering yeast to contain the green fluorescent protein from jellyfish. Zayner's company, The ODIN, released kits to allow people to create their own engineered fluorescent yeast, which was met with some controversy as the FDA declared that the green fluorescent protein can be seen as a color additive. [19] Zayner views the kit as a way that an individual can use genetic engineering to create new things in their everyday life. [20]
In 2019, Zayner launched a curriculum (Bioengineering 101 [21] ) featuring a series of educational videos directed at those studying biotechnology for the first time. Zayner was featured in Unnatural Selection (stylized as "unnatural selection"), a TV documentary series that presents an overview of genetic engineering, which was released on Netflix in October 2019.
In 2020, Zayner, David Ishee and Dariia Dantseva, who form a group of Biohackers named The Central Dogma Collective (CDC) tested a DNA based coronavirus vaccine on themselves and live-streamed the whole process and made all protocols and data open source and freely available to the public. [22] [23] The DNA vaccine expressed the SARS-CoV2 spike protein once inside human cells to elicit an immune response. She measured IgG and IgM spike protein antibody response and antibody neutralization of Spike protein RBD domain binding to the ACE2 receptor. All three individuals had an immune response and neutralization response to the vaccine. [24] [25]
In the arts, Zayner's work has been featured in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, [26] Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, [27] Philadelphia Museum of Art [28] and others.
While at the University of Chicago Zayner created a musical instrument, the Chromochord, which stimulates light-, oxygen-, and voltage-sensing proteins and translates their reactions into music. [29] [30] Together with composer Francisco Castillo Trigueros, Zayner received a grant from the university to compose music and create audio visual art installations using the work. [31] Zayner, gave a musical performance using the Chromochord at NY MoMA PS1. [32]
Zayner was a resident artist at Stochastic Labs in Berkeley, California [33] where she worked with the new media artist Lynn Hershman Leeson to create an art installation about genetic engineering, which included a booth designed by Zayner that attempted to reverse engineer a person's DNA from their picture. The installation was shown at ZKM and Deichtorhallen. [34]
The California Department of Consumer Affairs informed Zayner in May 2019 of their investigation into a complaint against them for practicing medicine without a license. [35] [36] By September of the same year Zayner received notice that the investigation had been concluded, and “no further action is anticipated.” [37]
Zayner is transgender. She was formerly known as Josiah Zayner. [38]
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with the most common being an organism altered in a way that "does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination". A wide variety of organisms have been genetically modified (GM), including animals, plants, and microorganisms.
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including the transfer of genes within and across species boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms.
Gene therapy is a medical technology that aims to produce a therapeutic effect through the manipulation of gene expression or through altering the biological properties of living cells.
Functional genomics is a field of molecular biology that attempts to describe gene functions and interactions. Functional genomics make use of the vast data generated by genomic and transcriptomic projects. Functional genomics focuses on the dynamic aspects such as gene transcription, translation, regulation of gene expression and protein–protein interactions, as opposed to the static aspects of the genomic information such as DNA sequence or structures. A key characteristic of functional genomics studies is their genome-wide approach to these questions, generally involving high-throughput methods rather than a more traditional "candidate-gene" approach.
A designer baby is a baby whose genetic makeup has been selected or altered, often to exclude a particular gene or to remove genes associated with disease. This process usually involves analysing a wide range of human embryos to identify genes associated with particular diseases and characteristics, and selecting embryos that have the desired genetic makeup; a process known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Screening for single genes is commonly practiced, and polygenic screening is offered by a few companies. Other methods by which a baby's genetic information can be altered involve directly editing the genome before birth, which is not routinely performed and only one instance of this is known to have occurred as of 2019, where Chinese twins Lulu and Nana were edited as embryos, causing widespread criticism.
The historical application of biotechnology throughout time is provided below in chronological order.
Body hacking is the application of the hacker ethic in pursuit of enhancement or change to the body's functions through technological means, such as do-it-yourself cybernetic devices or by introducing biochemicals.
DIYbio is an informal umbrella organization for individuals and local groups active in do-it-yourself biology, encompassing both a website and an email list. It serves as a network of individuals from around the globe that aims to help make biology a worthwhile pursuit for citizen scientists, biohackers, amateur biologists, and do-it-yourself biological engineers who value openness and safety. It was founded by Jason Bobe and Mackenzie Cowell in 2008.
Do-it-yourself biology is a biotechnological social movement in which individuals, communities, and small organizations study biology and life science using the same methods as traditional research institutions. DIY biology is primarily undertaken by individuals with limited research training from academia or corporations, who then mentor and oversee other DIY biologists with little or no formal training. This may be done as a hobby, as a not-for-profit endeavor for community learning and open-science innovation, or for profit, to start a business.
Genetically modified animals are animals that have been genetically modified for a variety of purposes including producing drugs, enhancing yields, increasing resistance to disease, etc. The vast majority of genetically modified animals are at the research stage while the number close to entering the market remains small.
Genome editing, or genome engineering, or gene editing, is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted, modified or replaced in the genome of a living organism. Unlike early genetic engineering techniques that randomly inserts genetic material into a host genome, genome editing targets the insertions to site-specific locations. The basic mechanism involved in genetic manipulations through programmable nucleases is the recognition of target genomic loci and binding of effector DNA-binding domain (DBD), double-strand breaks (DSBs) in target DNA by the restriction endonucleases, and the repair of DSBs through homology-directed recombination (HDR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ).
Cas12a is an RNA-guided endonuclease that forms an essential component of the CRISPR systems found in some bacteria and archaea. In its natural context, Cas12a targets and destroys the genetic material of viruses and other foreign mobile genetic elements, thereby protecting the host cell from infection. Like other Cas enzymes, Cas12a binds to a "guide" RNA which targets it to a DNA sequence in a specific and programmable matter. In the host organism, the crRNA contains a constant region that is recognized by the Cas12a protein and a "spacer" region that is complementary to a piece of foreign nucleic acid that previously infected the cell.
Biohacking, biohacker, or biohack may refer to:
Biotechnology risk is a form of existential risk from biological sources, such as genetically engineered biological agents. The release of such high-consequence pathogens could be
Human germline engineering (HGE) is the process by which the genome of an individual is modified in such a way that the change is heritable. This is achieved by altering the genes of the germ cells, which mature into eggs and sperm. For safety, ethical, and social reasons, the scientific community and the public have concluded that germline editing for reproduction is inappropriate. HGE is prohibited by law in more than 70 countries and by a binding international treaty of the Council of Europe.
Aaron James Traywick was an American businessman and life extension activist in the transhumanism and biohacking communities. He sought to develop gene therapies to make inexpensive treatments available for incurable conditions such as AIDS and the herpes simplex virus. His lack of any medical training and his unconventional methods—such as broadcasting an associate injecting himself with an "untested experimental gene therapy", then later doing the same to himself in an onstage public demonstration—drew widespread criticism.
He Jiankui is a Chinese biophysicist. He was named as the inaugural director of the Institute of Genetic Medicine at Wuchang Technical College, a private undergraduate college in Wuhan, in September 2023. Before January 2019, He served as associate professor at the Department of Biology of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. Earning a PhD 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 (CRISPR, pronounced, refers to a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats") 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 or new ones added in vivo.
Unnatural Selection is a 2019 American documentary television series. It presents an overview of genetic engineering, particularly the DNA-editing technology of CRISPR, from the perspective of scientists, corporations and biohackers working from their home. The series was released on Netflix on October 18, 2019.
Biohackers is a German techno-thriller television series created by Christian Ditter that premiered on Netflix on 20 August 2020. A week after its release, the series was renewed for a second season, which was released on 9 July 2021.
Josiah Zayner, ... He holds a Ph.D. in biophysics and is a well-known provocateur. Among his many stunts, he has coaxed his skin to produce a fluorescent protein, ingested a friend's poop in a D.I.Y. fecal-matter transplant, and attempted to deactivate one of his genes so that he could grow bigger muscles.
In June, biohacker Josiah Zayner recreated and self-tested a DNA plasmid vaccine that had shown promising results in animal trials, livestreaming the experiment on YouTube; by October, he had concluded that the messiness of human biology makes solo vaccine research impractical.
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