From skin biopsy to iPS cell proposals: emails involving George Church’s Personal Genome Project and Jeffrey Epstein

When I first read in 2019 that George Church previously had ties to Jeffrey Epstein, I felt disappointed. It’s been fun following Church’s research over the years. I even interviewed him here on The Niche about human germline CRISPR.

Now, unfortunately, there are new revelations about Church’s Personal Genome Project (PGP) in the recent Epstein files docs that just raise more questions. The emails cover everything from a skin biopsy to proposed iPS cell research involving Church’s PGP and Epstein.

Background on Church and Epstein

For background, the Harvard professor reportedly got $2M for research from Epstein and others in his orbit. This was mentioned in a Harvard report on Epstein.

Church later apologized for his “nerd tunnel vision” about Epstein, who was already convicted of sex crimes related to minors at the time.

My sense back then was that Church’s connection to Epstein was mainly one of research funding, but the new documents include extensive discussion of research related to Epstein.

Stumbling on the new story

I stumbled on this by accident. A colleague told me about finding mentions of an unproven stem cell clinic in the new Epstein files. So, I started searching and found another Epstein stem cell thread in the docs related to Church and one of his colleagues at the time, Joseph Thakuria.

As I was thinking about this new story, CNN put up an article on some of the new revelations: Epstein paid for novel genetic testing in apparent effort to explore extending life, new emails show. The CNN story broke this news, but didn’t get too deeply into it.

Overall, the emails show that there were extensive plans for research on Epstein (his cells and possibly genome) in part via Church’s PGP. At least some limited research appears to have taken place. Emails show that Thakuria had a variety of research ideas he bounced off of Epstein. Some emails went through associated possible costs for Epstein. It seems that most of it never happened, but there’s still quite a bit here to be concerned about in my view.

Let’s go through some of the key elements and the difficult questions they raise. It all seemed to start with an Epstein visit to Harvard and a skin cell sample.

Epstein skin cell samples via George Church

One of the files I found was an itinerary (near the top, it says “GO TO HARVARD!”)  for a June 28, 2013 Epstein visit that seemed to indicate that Epstein would get a skin cell sample taken somehow via Church. The “George Church” in parentheses there struck me. 

A PI in a research study would not typically have anything to do with individual participants. Perhaps Church took Epstein to a technician who then took a sample?

Also, why would the PGP even take a skin cell sample? To make iPS cells?

Joe Thakuria and the iPS cell/CRISPR plan that probably never happened

A search for “iPS cells” in the Epstein files found a variety of documents, some related to Church or Thakuria.

A September 21, 2013 email from a redacted sender mentioned Church and Thakuria. It said the Epstein skin cell biopsy led to the successful generation of fibroblast cell lines from Epstein. The email goes on to say, “Those cell lines are now stored in liquid nitrogen and slated for iPS cell line (“adult stem cells”) creation.”

A December 12, 2013 email from Thakuria to an Epstein assistant named Leslie mentions potentially making Epstein iPS cells. It also goes through what Epstein might pay if things proceeded.

Different possible research and projects

There are more emails about possible research costs. For example, there’s an Epstein files document with “J.E. Invoice” at the top from June, 2014 going through all kinds of costs for possible research adding up to nearly $200,000 including related to iPS cell generation from Epstein.

iPS cell generation is the third bullet point here, saying, “iPS cell lines: We’ve discussed making adult stem cells from JE’s fibroblast cells. If we do this, he, like George Church, would be one of very few people in the world to have this done.” There was also mention of potential CRISPR gene editing of Epstein’s iPS cells for research. There’s a longevity section too.

Something else struck me as notable:

“Venus project: Jeffrey and briefly discussed a genomic research studying I’m dubbing the Venus project (he’ll know what this). I can do this for him but doing this work would be greatly aided by having some good bioinformatic infrastructure. This infrastructure could be used for the Venus project.”

This potential Venus project was apparently related to the genetics of facial features and the possible cost was $160,000.

There is so much that is puzzling to me about these emails and potential projects. To be clear, I am not suggesting that Church or Thakuria did anything improper in connection with these emails and documents. However, the files raise questions for me.

Open questions

I’ve tried to organize the questions by category. In some cases, I’ve added comments.

University/institutional resources & compliance

• What institutional funds, facilities, or equipment at Harvard or MGH, if any, were used? If institutional resources were involved, was that use consistent with university and hospital policies?
• Did the PGP or anyone else sequence Epstein’s genome? Was that the main goal of taking the skin cell sample and making fibroblast lines? If so, why wouldn’t a cheek swab have sufficed?
• Was Epstein processed under standard PGP participant procedures, or were any exceptions made?

Regarding subsequent proposals:

• Did plans for work on Epstein’s fibroblasts reflect a transition away from the PGP framework?
• If a new protocol was contemplated, what regulatory or IRB pathway would that have required?
• If, as seems likely, the iPS cell production didn’t move forward, why not?

Payments and institutional rules

• Why was Epstein paying or expected to pay for the possible planned future research? Subjects in a study usually do not have to pay, but there can be rare exceptions.
• Were such payments (any made or potential future ones) consistent with institutional rules governing research participation, sequencing services, or customized lab work?
• Did others within the PGP or at Harvard/MGH know about and approve of Epstein’s participation as a research subject?

The cells: fibroblasts & iPS cells

• Beyond their initial culture, were Epstein’s fibroblast cells used in any additional research?
• What is the current status of these biological materials? Could some Epstein cells still exist in liquid nitrogen at Harvard or MGH?

So, overall the documents raise questions about potential research related to Epstein, but it’s not clear that any institutional policies were violated.

CNN story

Getting back to the CNN story, there’s also this:

“The researcher, Joseph Thakuria, was at the time a senior doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston and affiliated with a large-scale genomic studies project at Harvard Medical School.

In a statement to CNN, Thakuria said Epstein was also enrolled in the Harvard Personal Genome Project, a massive public global database of genetic information from volunteers for scientists and researchers to learn more about traits and genes.

Thakuria has not been publicly linked to Epstein before and is not accused of any wrongdoing.

A Harvard representative said MGH is an affiliate of Harvard, but Thakuria was not directly employed by Harvard or the Wyss Institute, which oversees the Personal Genome Project. MGH has no record of approving Thakuria for studies described in the Epstein emails.”

“I was a physician-researcher and he [Epstein] was a research subject,” he added. “We also had early discussions about his potentially funding research, but that never materialized.”