Eric Alexander Gaucher (born January 1972) is an American biologist best known for his work in a field he termed
Evolutionary Synthetic Biology
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
.
Early life and education
Gaucher was guided in biochemistry by Peter Tipton and Bayesian Theory by George Smith. Gaucher subsequently earned his Ph.D. from the
University of Florida under the tutelage of
Steve Benner and Michael Miyamoto.
[Georgia Institute of Technology: Gaucher Group: Eric A. Gaucher: Curriculum vitae]
(accessed 8 February 2016) Gaucher received the Walter M. Fitch Award from the
Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution for his graduate work. He then did postdoctoral work with
NASA's Astrobiology Institute in conjunction with a National Research Council Fellowship. After the two-year fellowship, Gaucher served as President of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution.
Career
Gaucher was hired as an Associate Professor by the
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
in 2008
[ before moving to Georgia State University, where he is currently a professor. The Gaucher group conducts basic and applied research at the interface of molecular evolution and synthetic biology. As of February 2016, his ''h''-index, as calculated by Google Scholar, is 25.Google Scholar: Eric Gaucher]
(accessed 8 February 2016)
Gaucher is also the founder and president of the early-stage biotechnology company General Genomics. His company exploits novel platforms to engineer proteins for the biomedical and industrial sectors.
Selected publications
*Eric A. Gaucher, J. Michael Thomson, Michelle F. Burgan, Steven A. Benner (2003)
''
Nature'' 425: 285–88
References
Further reading
''Astrobiology Magazine'': Giving Ancient Life Another Chance to Evolve
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaucher, Eric
Living people
1972 births
21st-century American biologists
Synthetic biologists