Assistant Professor, Leader, Sculpting Evolution Group
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT Professor Kevin Esvelt leads the Sculpting Evolution Group in exploring evolutionary and ecological engineering. The creator of a synthetic viral ecosystem to rapidly evolve useful biomolecules, he helped pioneer the development of CRISPR genome editing, invented CRISPR-based “gene drive” systems capable of single-handedly editing the genomes of wild species, and has led efforts to ensure that all such research is open and community-guided. Esvelt’s laboratory broadly focuses on mitigating catastrophic biological risks by developing countermeasures against novel pandemics, changing scientific norms, and applying cryptography to secure DNA synthesis.