I'm Alan Alder and this is Clear In Vivid, conversations about connecting and communicating.

I think the people who go into science are doing it to leave the world better off.

I mean, when we're doing the human genome project, I always took time to point out our whole

team that was doing this, that they would tell their grandchildren someday that they had worked

on this and they'd be really proud. There are a few ways to be able to work on something

where you can say, I'm going to, together with others, leave a legacy that's going to make the

world better off. But it does mean you have to think not just about doing great science,

you have to think about ensuring that it truly delivers on its promise and that that has a

ethical dimension, a moral dimension and it makes a full, well-rounded life if you're willing to

take all that on. That's Eric Landr, one of the leaders of the huge project 20 years ago to

spell out the entire human genome. He's the founder of one of the world's leading biomedical

research facilities, the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We recorded our conversation

a couple of months ago before he was nominated to join President Joe Biden's cabinet as his

science advisor. This is really great to be on the podcast with you today, Eric. I remember so

clearly when we met about 20 years ago and we were doing an episode of Scientific American Frontiers

and you were so approachable, you were such a fellow human and not a guy in white robes on

top of the mountain that when I didn't understand what you were telling me, I grabbed you by both

cheeks and shook your face. I went to scrape, just great researcher, world class researcher,

I'm shaking you by the cheeks. But that was a testament to your humanity. You carry that with you wherever

you go. Do you concentrate on that? Well, no, I mean, I'm still a kid from Brooklyn. I think,

I think you just have to always remember where you come from and, oh, I don't know. I mean,

I got into biology by some crazy path and trained in math. So I always feel like I'm some

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