Eric harness

Eric’s early work at LLNL focused on DNA fingerprinting select agents and forensic DNA analysis.

Many of the techniques for DNA analysis at the time were not accurate enough to determine the subtle differences in similar species of bacteria. Furthermore, worked on the technologies to help determine the origin of the material of interest.  Which then transitioned to advancing the mapping and sequencing of DNA at Complete Genomics by labeling DNA and linearizing to determine the mapping position of the DNA. This led to the advancement of Complete Genomics technologies for long read technologies as well have sequencing chemistries. Having worked on multiple product lines for the company including the BGI-seq 1000, BGI-seq 500 along with the NIFTY assay for each machine. He worked as the liaison between biological research team hardware and software to transition the developments from research to production. The NIFTY assay has now been scaled and validated to become the leading trisomy in world wide. Eric is now starting to develop more sequencing technologies for NGS for a small startup Arc Bio LLC. 

Eric has been involved with BioCurious from the beginning. He has procured much of the initial equipment and supplies. Advising on policy direction and handling the safety aspects of running the lab. Eric has taught many of the initial classes and seminars at BioCurious including PCR, cloning, basic microbiology and sequencing. Eric’s favorite Maker activity is our equipment teardowns which have included many different robots, array scanners, and DNA sequencers. Recently he has led the successful effort over 2 years to reverse engineer an Illumina GAII DNA sequencer into a Fluorescent microscope. Eric has aided many labs find their footing by providing structural guidance and formation documents to help organize their maker spaces.  His work at BioCurious continues to transition into new leadership roles as President while leading community projects in microfluidics, and DNA sequencing.