George Church is an American geneticist, molecular engineer and serial 🏷️#entrepreneur, known for foundational work in genome sequencing, personal genomics and synthetic biology. He is the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, a professor of Health Sciences and Technology at 📝Harvard University and MIT, and a founding member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.
Working with Walter Gilbert, Church published a direct genomic sequencing method in 1984 and helped launch the Human Genome Project that year. He co-invented nanopore sequencing, founded the Personal Genome Project in 2005, co-developed multiplex automated genome engineering, optimized CRISPR/Cas9 for genome engineering, and co-invented DNA-based data storage. He co-wrote Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves with Ed Regis. His lab has co-founded around 50 biotech companies, including Colossal Biosciences in 2021, and he was named Chief Scientist of 📝Lila Sciences at its 2025 launch.