A brilliant thinker and entrepreneur unlocking the extraordinary promise of the new life sciences —
and changing the world.


Highlights

Juan Enriquez is one of those unique individuals who lives in the future and works on the cutting edge of discovery. He is an active investor in early-stage private companies in the life sciences sector, and is one of the world’s leading authorities on the uses and benefits of genomic research.

Bio-science is beginning to affect the way we live, work, and do business, and Juan is an articulate and effective advocate of its promise. His company, Synthetic Genomics, was a partner and major funder of the J Craig Venter Institute’s recent breakthrough — the creation of synthetic life in the laboratory.

As Juan has said about the Venter-lead genomic research and where his company intends to take it:

Harnessing the power of synthetic biology can lead to alternative energy sources
that may have a significant impact on energy markets. We need to rapidly develop
non-petrochemical, cleaner burning fuels.

In addition to bio-fuels that will someday run our cars and airplanes, Juan’s company has extended its focus to food production, clean water, and vaccine development.

In addition to his entrepreneurial work in the life sciences, Juan writes and speaks engagingly about the profound changes that genomics and other life sciences will cause in business, technology, politics and society. He is a sought-after speaker, and his highly-anticipated appearances at TED and other venues are dynamic, funny, insightful, and illuminating.

His work has appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Foreign Policy, Sciences, and The New York Times.

What will The Century of Biology Mean to the Global Economy?

How extraordinary advances in life sciences are changing the way we live and do business.

Genetics and digital are becoming the dominant languages of this century. The genetic revolution and other technologies will have unprecedented political, ethical, economic, and financial impacts on almost every business. You can begin to see this in both the pattern of mergers and acquisitions as well as new investments. Gene data is already transforming how pharma, biotech, hospital, food, feed, fiber, insurance, chemical, insurance, and energy companies do business. This session will map out how these discoveries and applications will change your business and life.

Credentials

• Co-founder, Synthetic Genomics Inc, a synthetic biology company
• Chairman and CEO of Biotechonomy LLC, a life sciences research and investment firm
• Founding Director of the Harvard Business School Life Sciences Project
• Author of the global bestseller As the Future Catches You: How Genomics & Other Forces are Changing Your Life, Work, Health & Wealth
• Author of The Untied States of America: Polarization, Fracturing, and Our Future
• BA, MBA, with honors, Harvard University
  
  Boards:
• Cabot Corporation
• Harvard Medical School Genetics Advisory Council
• Synthetic Genomics, Inc.
• The Visiting Committee of Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center
  
  Government—Prior Positions:
• CEO, Mexico City’s Urban Development Corp
• Coordinator General of Economic Policy
• Chief of Staff, Mexico’s Secretary of State
• Member of the Peace Commission that negotiated the cease-fire in Chiapas’ Zapatista rebellion

The revolution

As of 1995, we began to read the full gene sequence of . . .
Bacteria, insects, plants, animals, humans.
It is written in a four-letter code (A, T, C, G) . . .
If you change this code, just as if you change the code in a floppy disk or on a CD . . .
You change the message, the product, the outcome.

We are beginning to acquire
direct and deliberate control
over the evolution of all life forms
on the planet . . .

including ourselves.