Encore: Harvard cellular and molecular biologist Jason Buenrostro breaks down gene expression

In this Sunday, March 13, 2016 photo, a sign rests near an entrance to Sanders Theatre at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass.

Ashley Soebroto is the Fall 2023 intern at GBH’s Under the Radar.

August 30, 2024

This is a special encore segment of “Under the Radar with Callie Crossley.” This originally published on Nov. 10, 2023

The MacArthur Foundation named its class of 2023 “genius grant” fellows last month.

Cellular and molecular biologist Jason Buenrostro was one of 2023’s MacArthur Foundation fellows, a recipient of one of its “genius grant.” He joined an exclusive group of previous fellows who have demonstrated outstanding talent and leadership potential in their fields.

“For me, [being a scientist] is like I’m living in a dream,” Buenrostro said. “Growing up, my parents didn’t graduate high school or my extended family, none of them went to college, and the probability that things would work out in this way are just unfortunately low-rate. I like to think that what was once a challenge for me to move through the academic system, to sit down on the desk and to listen to somebody go on and on about about something in a classroom, is now a tool in my tool belt.”

Buenrostro, who is also a Harvard University associate professor, studies the mechanisms that “turn on” genes, and is the pioneer of a popular method to assess chromatin accessibility across the genome. We spoke with Professor Buenrostro last year for Under the Radar’s series, “The Genius Next Door.”