Steven A. Benner
Steven Albert Benner (born October 23, 1954) is an American chemist. He has been a professor at Harvard University, ETH Zurich, and most recently at the University of Florida, where he was the V.T. & Louise Jackson Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. In 2005, he founded The Westheimer Institute of Science and Technology (TWIST) and the Foundation For Applied Molecular Evolution. Benner has also founded the companies EraGen Biosciences and Firebird BioMolecular Sciences LLC.
Steven Albert Benner | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 23, 1954 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Yale University Harvard University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry, synthetic biology |
| Institutions | Harvard University ETH Zurich University of Florida, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert Burns Woodward, Frank Westheimer |
| Website | www.ffame.org |
Benner and his colleagues were the first to synthesize a gene, beginning the field of synthetic biology. He was instrumental in establishing the field of paleogenetics. He is interested in the origin of life and the chemical conditions and processes needed to produce RNA. Benner has worked with NASA to develop detectors for alien genetic materials, using the definition of life developed by the NASA Exobiology Discipline Working Group in 1992, “a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution”.