Erik Aznauryan: Writing Genes at Scale

<p>Erik Aznauryan, CEO and co-founder of HarborSite, joins Galaxy Balance to explore the next frontier of genome engineering: moving beyond small edits and toward precise, large-scale DNA insertion. Erik traces his path from Armenia and medical school to Europe, the Church Lab, and eventually founding HarborSite with a mission to make gene insertion safer, more durable, and more programmable.</p><p>The conversation dives into recombinases, safe harbor sites, payload size limits, delivery vehicles, in vivo validation, AI-driven protein engineering, and the therapeutic promise of inserting full genes or even entire genetic programs into the genome. Cory and Erik also discuss rare disease, cell therapy, skin and liver targeting, regulatory bottlenecks, animal models, funding shifts in biotech, and the long-term possibility of human enhancement in an age of AI.</p><p>At the edge of science fiction and translational medicine, this episode asks what becomes possible when genome engineering evolves from editing biology to writing biology at scale</p><p>00:00 — The North Star for genome engineering</p><p>00:36 — Introduction to Erik and HarborSite</p><p>01:39 — Erik’s path into science</p><p>02:36 — Early fascination with cloning and genome engineering</p><p>03:21 — Cory’s own early inspiration</p><p>04:03 — Why genome engineering matters</p><p>05:24 — Ethical questions around germline engineering</p><p>06:37 — Why early-stage intervention matters</p><p>07:51 — Technical progress and disease-specific editing</p><p>09:25 — Why HarborSite was founded</p><p>10:50 — Recombinases as the core technology</p><p>12:15 — Engineering recombinases for new DNA targets</p><p>13:12 — Novel genomic safe harbors</p><p>14:18 — How safe harbors are selected and validated</p><p>15:36 — How much target specificity can be changed?</p><p>16:36 — Why lifelong expression matters</p><p>17:29 — Testing durability in culture and in vivo</p><p>18:26 — The appeal of the albumin locus</p><p>19:15 — Endogenous production of biologics</p><p>20:59 — Startup challenges and fundraising</p><p>22:28 — Why LabCentral is valuable</p><p>23:07 — AI BioHub and large proprietary datasets</p><p>24:08 — AI’s role in model development</p><p>25:11 — Practical uses of AI in biotech startups</p><p>26:51 — How the team handles data analysis</p><p>27:56 — What the therapeutic product looks like</p><p>28:52 — First target tissues: liver and T cells</p><p>30:27 — Testing off-target integration</p><p>31:27 — Balancing specificity and efficiency</p><p>32:24 — Lessons from CAR-T and random integration</p><p>33:40 — Why recombinase systems may be safer</p><p>34:39 — Payload size and delivery constraints</p><p>35:35 — Delivery strategies under consideration</p><p>38:09 — Simpler donor DNA formats</p><p>39:38 — Platform company and therapeutic company</p><p>40:59 — The key milestone: in vivo validation</p><p>41:48 — HarborSite’s pre-seed raise</p><p>43:05 — How VC expectations have shifted</p><p>44:26 — Choosing the right in vivo model</p><p>46:22 — The continued importance of mouse studies</p><p>48:23 — Global regulatory differences</p><p>50:10 — Science funding in the U.S.</p><p>52:40 — Synthetic biology in space</p><p>54:34 — Enhancement and self-directed health</p><p>57:40 — Science fiction and inspiration</p><p>59:34 — Advice for young scientists</p><p>60:31 — Closing remarks</p>