Austen James Heinz, CEO of Cambrian Genomics, was found dead of apparent suicide. At the time of his suicide, Austen Heinz was participating in a mentoring program with Richard Branson, so he had some high-level connections.
He was CEO of Cambrian Genomics which is printing DNA and literally creating entirely new species of life. Not someday in the future. Right now. Much of what they are doing goes beyond science fiction. They can alter the DNA of humans as well. It is a massive ethical responsibility. Massive.
— from a shared message, June 1, 2015
At the time this message was shared, there was nothing yet in the news. I looked a little more into it and found that his company, Cambrian Genomics, aimed to do things like:
- If someone wanted a pet bird that glowed in the dark, he would create it for them.
- If someone wanted women’s genitalia to smell like peaches, he would create a probiotic that would make that happen.
- If someone wanted to create a custom virus, he could make that happen as well.
Information from an article makes it appear that this organization was intended for the consumer market, and yet a page capture from the site has DARPA and NSF (National Science Foundation) logos on it.
Source:
- June 5, 2015. “Austen J. Heinz.” The Pilot Newspaper.
https://www.thepilot.com/obituaries/austen-j-heinz/article_4021700c-0bad-11e5-8aac-b7bcbe428a91.html.
News. - June 30, 2015. Zach Weissmueller. “R.I.P. Austen Heinz, Biotech Entrepreneur and Rebel.” Reason.
https://reason.com/2015/06/30/rip-austen-heinz/.
Magazine. - January 30, 2019. Will Storr. “The Death of a Dreamer.” Quillette.
https://quillette.com/2019/01/30/the-death-of-a-dreamer/.
General Website Link. - “Wayback Machine.”
https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://cambriangenomics.com.
General Website Link.
This is a calendar of page captures of the Cambrian Genomics site.
Related:
- January 14, 2015. Paul Knoepfler. “Austen Heinz of Cambrian Genomics Interview: GMO Creatures & People.” The Niche.
https://ipscell.com/2015/01/cambrian/.
Blog.