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AUDIT the Podcast Interview by Michael Chui

Lightning round: Quick questions and answers with Jennifer Doudna

Michael Chui: Yes, nurturing the next generation is an incredible privilege and a great joy. That totally resonates with me. Next, I’d love to do a quick lightning round of quick questions, quick answers. They’re meant to be fun. If you don’t like one you could just say, “Pass.” Are you willing to do that with me?

Jennifer Doudna: Sure.

Michael Chui: Here we go. First, what’s your favorite source of information about biological innovations?

Jennifer Doudna: Twitter.

Michael Chui: What’s a thing you wish people understood about CRISPR?

Jennifer Doudna: Oh boy. I wish they understood that it’s an ancient immune system in bugs.

Michael Chui: What’s the number one thing that people get wrong about CRISPR?

Jennifer Doudna: I think what they get wrong is that it’s not a cure-all. It’s a powerful tool, but it can’t do everything.

Michael Chui: What excites you most about the Bio Revolution?

Jennifer Doudna: Thinking about what’s next and how we get there.

Michael Chui: What worries you most about the Biological Revolution?

Jennifer Doudna: Technology getting ahead of itself, and people proceeding to do things that can be done, but really should not be done.

Michael Chui: What application of biological technologies is most underhyped or underrecognized for its potential?

Jennifer Doudna: I think it’s the work in plants and agriculture. It doesn’t get a lot of attention, but it’s going to be extremely impactful.

Michael Chui: What application of biological innovation is most overhyped?

Jennifer Doudna: CRISPR babies.

Michael Chui: What job would you be doing today if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now?

Jennifer Doudna: I think I’d be an architect. I like building things.

Michael Chui: Not tomato farmer?

Jennifer Doudna: Well, that too. That’s very possible.

Michael Chui: Okay. In terms of tomatoes, do you think of yourself as a latter-day Mendel? Or is it just something you do for fun?

Jennifer Doudna: Mostly I do it for fun. I often tell my son, “If I had another life to live, I would probably be a plant geneticist.” Plant genetics is really fascinating.

Michael Chui: Did your childhood in Hawaii have anything to do with that? Because they have crazy plants there.

Jennifer Doudna: They do have crazy plants there. Yes, I’m sure it has a lot to do with it.

Michael Chui: All right, I have two more lightning round questions. To a student who is entering college today, what would you recommend that they study?

Jennifer Doudna: Computer science or robotics.

Michael Chui: Wait, we just spoke about how amazing biology is, and you’re saying computer science and robotics. What gives?

Pay attention to what’s happening in biology because it’s changing very quickly.

Jennifer Doudna

Jennifer Doudna: Well, I think those are going to intersect with biology. I really do. And when I say computer science and robotics, I increasingly think that those fields will include biology, because they have to.

Michael Chui: Finally, what one piece of advice do you have for listeners of this podcast?

Jennifer Doudna: Pay attention to what’s happening in biology because it’s changing very quickly.

Michael Chui: Great. Jennifer, thank you so much for joining us today, for sharing some of your insights. I’m Michael Chui with the McKinsey Global Institute. My guest has been Jennifer Doudna, discoverer of the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR, and who also directs the Innovative Genomics Institute at UC Berkeley. Thank you.

Jennifer Doudna: Thank you, Michael.

 

Jennifer Doudna, PhD is a professor of molecular and cell biology and chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.

Jennifer is also the executive director of the Innovative Genomics Institute, the Li Ka Shing chancellor’s chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences, and a member of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Gladstone Institutes, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Her contributions to Life Sciences @UCBLettersSci

are captured in two books published in 2015 and in 2019 by Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence (LPBI) Group, Boston

• VOLUME 2: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS & BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology On Amazon.com since 12/28/2019