Unnatural Selection: Who is Josiah Zayner? Netflix star has some crazy experiments!
A new limited docuseries landed on Netflix on Friday, October 18th which delves into the complicated and controversial world of genetic editing. Unnatural Selection looks at the science and the people behind this modern phenomenon, giving viewers an insight into how it works and the ethical, moral and political debates it raises. An array of […]
A new limited docuseries landed on Netflix on Friday, October 18th which delves into the complicated and controversial world of genetic editing.
Unnatural Selection looks at the science and the people behind this modern phenomenon, giving viewers an insight into how it works and the ethical, moral and political debates it raises.
An array of scientists in the field were featured in the series, but one who immediately stood out to viewers was Josiah Zayner.
So, who is Josiah? Find out everything you need to know about the infamous biohacker here!
Who is Josiah from Unnatural Selection?
Dr. Josiah Zayner is a 38-year-old biophysicist from Oakland, California. Although he is a biophysicist, Josiah prefers the term ‘biohacker’.
Josiah first obtained a BA in Plant Biology from Southern Illinois University, although his background before college was in tech and programming – he even had a job with Motorola as a programmer at the age of 19.
He next got an MSc in cell and Molecular Biology from Appalachian State before specialising in biophysics for his Ph.D.
Josiah Zayner graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2013.
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Josiah Zayner: Career
After graduating in 2013, Josiah went to work for NASA as a research scientist for their synthetic biology program. He left in 2016.
Since then, Josiah has been developing his own career.
He is the CEO of The ODIN, which is an online biohacking retailer which allows the general public to obtain biotech kits and experiment at home. We see him explaining such kits on Unnatural Selection.
Other notable works by Josiah include The ILIAD project and CRISPR Kits.
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Josiah’s craziest projects
Some of Josiah’s most notable projects include the full body microbiome transplant he did to himself (at home!) back in February 2016.
The whole experiment was documented in a short film called Gut Hack.
One of his more exciting experiments was the fluorescent beer he created – it glows green thanks to some jellyfish proteins!
You can find out more about Josiah’s projects and latests works by visiting his website where he documents them all in writing. You can even see the glowing beer!
Follow Josiah on social media
If Josiah’s work on Unnatural Selection intrigued you and you want to know more about what he’s up to, then the best place to follow him is on Twitter.
Not only does Josiah share updates on his own work, but he shares opinions and the latest news about genetic editing.
He has over 8000 followers and you can find him @4LOVofScience.
You can also find Josiah on Instagram where he has over 20,000 followers @jzayner.
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