Jo Zayner

Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch. Dr. Josie Zayner is a visionary biochemist and genetic designer. For over 15 years, she have pioneered work in the field of bioengineering, publishing a number of scientific papers on the topic. Josie received her PhD in Biophysics from the University of Chicago, winning several awards for their work on engineering proteins. She then spearheaded work on developing engineered microbes for Mars terraforming at NASA, eventually leaving to start The ODIN, a bioengineering company based in Austin, Texas that is working to make genetic engineering accessible to everyone. Zayner’s groundbreaking work in human genetic engineering and medicine has been the focus of many documentaries, including the Netflix documentary Unnatural Selection and the NYT documentary Gut Hack. She have been made fun of on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and written about in media all over the world including The New York Times, The New Yorker, El País, Le Monde, Time, Scientific American and NPR, among others. Somehow Josie still finds time to be an accomplished artist whose work has been featured in exhibits at San Francisco MoMA, Philadelphia Museum of Art, NY MoMA, ZKM and the Smithsonian. Zayner is transgender and uses she/her pronouns advocating for diversity, body autonomy and science for all. David Ishee is a biohacker and dog breeder working on projects to improve access to genetic engineering technology. Starting with no degree or laboratory David had to be self taught genetic engineering and build his own genetic engineering lab. With a lab built from home made and used genetics equipment he’s been able to bootstrap genetically modified organisms at a fraction of the typical costs. His projects range from developing more accessible methods of gene editing dogs that allow breeders to remove genetic disease, all the way to developing DIY methods of gene therapy for humans. His work is focused around the idea that these powerful new technologies can only reach their potential if they’re accessible to a broad DIY community and the rapid innovation it can drive. This work led to media coverage all over the world with the biggest coverage of some of his work being on the BBC, MIT technology review, New Scientist, Showtime and a 4 part documentary on Netflix called “Unnatural Selection”.