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Jo Zayner

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Jo Zayner
Josie Zayner PhD holding a hamster
Born (1981-02-08) February 8, 1981 (age 43)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Bio-engineer, biohacker, and CEO of The ODIN
Known forSelf-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.

Education

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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]

Career

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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]

The Chromochord

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]

Art

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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]

Medical investigation

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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]

Personal life

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Zayner identifies as transgender. She was formerly known as Josiah Zayner.[38]

References

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  1. ^ "Unnatural Selection: Who is Josiah Zayner? Netflix star has some crazy experiments!". Reality Titbit. October 21, 2019. Archived from the original on January 5, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Duhaime-Ross, Arielle (May 4, 2016). "A Bitter Pill". The Verge. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Bay Area biohacker tells you how to edit your DNA. Does that make him a criminal?". Times-Herald. May 18, 2019. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  4. ^ Bennett, Drake (March 14, 2014). "Twitter Is Just Like Talking, Only More Narcissistic". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  5. ^ Chicago Tribune (January 29, 2016). "Biologist's gene-editing kit lets DIYers play God at kitchen table". chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  6. ^ Nicks, Denver (January 12, 2016). "DIY Gene Editing Kit Sold for $120 by Josiah Zayner, Scientist". Money.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021.
  7. ^ Kolbert, Elizabeth (January 8, 2021). "CRISPR and the Splice to Survive". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 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.
  8. ^ "What Happens If Someone Uses This DIY Gene Hacking Kit to Make Mutant Bacteria?". Motherboard. Archived from the original on May 15, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  9. ^ "Governance: Learn from DIY biologists". Nature News & Comment. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  10. ^ "A NASA Scientist Is Behind the 'My DNA Was Planted' Viral Craigslist Ad". Motherboard. Archived from the original on August 1, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  11. ^ Pearlman, Alex (November 15, 2017). "Biohackers are using CRISPR on their DNA and we can't stop it". New Scientist. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  12. ^ Lee, Stephanie M. (October 14, 2017). "This Biohacker Is Trying To Edit His Own DNA And Wants You To Join Him". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  13. ^ Griffin, Patrick. "Edit Thyself: Biohacking in the age of CRISPR". Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. figures by Olivia Foster. Archived from the original on May 23, 2024. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  14. ^ "Meet the human guinea pig who hacked his own DNA". CBC. November 10, 2017. Archived from the original on January 19, 2024. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  15. ^ Ireland, Tom (December 24, 2017). "'I want to help humans genetically modify themselves'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 8, 2024. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  16. ^ "Object Collection". Cooper Hewitt. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  17. ^ "New York Times Op Docs: Gut Hack". New York Times. Archived from the original on April 14, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  18. ^ "DNA Biohackers Are Giving The FDA A Headache With Glow-In-The-Dark Booze". Buzzfeed. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  19. ^ "This Biohacker Wants to Spur a Genetic Engineering Revolution With Glowing Beer". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  20. ^ "The Odin Bioengineering 101". The Odin. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  21. ^ "Do-it-yourself from scientific paper to covid-19 DNA vaccine playlist". Josiah Zayner. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020.
  22. ^ Larabee, Tadhg (November 24, 2020). "Boston's Murky World of Open-Source COVID-19 Vaccine Research". digboston.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021. 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.
  23. ^ "Home-Made Covid Vaccine Appeared to Work, but Questions Remained". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020.
  24. ^ "A Biohacker Gets a Wake-Up Call". Bloomberg.com. October 12, 2020. Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  25. ^ Sura Wood (February 7, 2018). "California Dream Design Landscape". Bay Area Reporter. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  26. ^ "Objects Involving Josiah Zayner". Cooper Hewitt. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  27. ^ "Designs for Different Futures: BODIES". Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art.[permanent dead link‍]
  28. ^ Katie Drummond (September 5, 2013). "The world's smallest violin: scientist uses proteins to create a new musical instrument". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  29. ^ Nona Griffin,Daniel Grushkin. "Biotech's First Musical Instrument Plays Proteins Like Piano Keys [Slide Show]". Scientific American. Archived from the original on April 17, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  30. ^ Drew Messinger-Michaels (November 18, 2013). "Scholars probe interface between arts and science". Bay Area Reporter. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  31. ^ "Lynn Hershman Leeson Presents An Afternoon on the Future of Humanity". MoMA.org. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  32. ^ Stochastic Labs. "Josiah Zayner Resident Artist". Stochastic Labs. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  33. ^ B. Ruby Rich (Spring 2015). "On and Off The Screen". Film Quarterly. Archived from the original on May 9, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  34. ^ Antonio Regalado (May 15, 2019). "Celebrity biohacker Josiah Zayner is under investigation for practicing medicine without a license". MIT Tech Review. Archived from the original on June 6, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  35. ^ Beth Mole (May 16, 2019). "Genetic self-experimenting "biohacker" under investigation by health officials". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  36. ^ Brown, Kristen V (October 15, 2019). "Biohacker Investigation Is Dropped by California Medical Board". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  37. ^ "About Me". Jo Zayner's blog: Science, Art, Beauty. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.

Further reading

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