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Polymath World Episode 55: Dr Erika DeBenedictis
GENE EDITING AND TERRAFORMING MARS
Dr Erika DeBenedictus is CEO of Pioneer Labs. She is a computational physicist and synthetic biologist working at the intersection of space science and the life sciences. She studied at Caltech before moving to MIT and did her postdoc under 2024 Nobel Laureate David Baker. She also trained at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. At Pioneer Labs they use several methods, including CRISPR and other forms of gene editing, to engineer microbes such as cyanobacteria to help make Mars more hospitable to earth life. The Great Oxidation event saw cyanobacteria…
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