Erik Aznauryan, CEO and co-founder of HarborSite, joins Galaxy Balance to explore the next frontier of genome engineering: moving beyond small edits and toward precise, large-scale DNA insertion. Erik traces his path from Armenia and medical school to Europe, the Church Lab, and eventually founding HarborSite with a mission to make gene insertion safer, more durable, and more programmable.

The conversation dives into recombinases, safe harbor sites, payload size limits, delivery vehicles, in vivo validation, AI-driven protein engineering, and the therapeutic promise of inserting full genes or even entire genetic programs into the genome. Cory and Erik also discuss rare disease, cell therapy, skin and liver targeting, regulatory bottlenecks, animal models, funding shifts in biotech, and the long-term possibility of human enhancement in an age of AI.

At the edge of science fiction and translational medicine, this episode asks what becomes possible when genome engineering evolves from editing biology to writing biology at scale

00:00 — The North Star for genome engineering

00:36 — Introduction to Erik and HarborSite

01:39 — Erik’s path into science

02:36 — Early fascination with cloning and genome engineering

03:21 — Cory’s own early inspiration

04:03 — Why genome engineering matters

05:24 — Ethical questions around germline engineering

06:37 — Why early-stage intervention matters

07:51 — Technical progress and disease-specific editing

09:25 — Why HarborSite was founded

10:50 — Recombinases as the core technology

12:15 — Engineering recombinases for new DNA targets

13:12 — Novel genomic safe harbors

14:18 — How safe harbors are selected and validated

15:36 — How much target specificity can be changed?

16:36 — Why lifelong expression matters

17:29 — Testing durability in culture and in vivo

18:26 — The appeal of the albumin locus

19:15 — Endogenous production of biologics

20:59 — Startup challenges and fundraising

22:28 — Why LabCentral is valuable

23:07 — AI BioHub and large proprietary datasets

24:08 — AI’s role in model development

25:11 — Practical uses of AI in biotech startups

26:51 — How the team handles data analysis

27:56 — What the therapeutic product looks like

28:52 — First target tissues: liver and T cells

30:27 — Testing off-target integration

31:27 — Balancing specificity and efficiency

32:24 — Lessons from CAR-T and random integration

33:40 — Why recombinase systems may be safer

34:39 — Payload size and delivery constraints

35:35 — Delivery strategies under consideration

38:09 — Simpler donor DNA formats

39:38 — Platform company and therapeutic company

40:59 — The key milestone: in vivo validation

41:48 — HarborSite’s pre-seed raise

43:05 — How VC expectations have shifted

44:26 — Choosing the right in vivo model

46:22 — The continued importance of mouse studies

48:23 — Global regulatory differences

50:10 — Science funding in the U.S.

52:40 — Synthetic biology in space

54:34 — Enhancement and self-directed health

57:40 — Science fiction and inspiration

59:34 — Advice for young scientists

60:31 — Closing remarks