One of my favorite things about Elegen is being able to work in the space downstream of ENFINIA DNA. I get to experience something echoed by many of our customers, which is the amazing set of possibilities opened up by working with such high-fidelity linear DNA.

Zach Doogeran

Senior Scientist

Employee Spotlight

What inspires you?

Biotech has been improving at such a rapid rate over the last decade, I don’t know if inspired is the right word or if I just feel like I’m sprinting to keep up. I remember when Covid first hit the U.S. and the messaging was essentially “buckle up, because it will be at least 3 years before we have any sort of solution” and then within a year we had mRNA vaccines and targeted oral antivirals. I feel real gratitude for being a part of the industry that is able to work these sorts of miracles.

What do you like about working at Elegen?

“Culture is everything” is such a cliche until you arrive at a workplace where progress really is being driven by the culture. It is a pleasure to work every day with the talented scientists and engineers at Elegen on solving some of the toughest problems in biotech. I give a ton of credit to our leadership for creating such a fun and rewarding environment.

Hobbies:

This is embarrassing but I play a lot of Magic: the Gathering (less so since I became a father!). Something about building a deck, losing a lot with it, and then iterating on your ideas reminds me of what I love most about conducting research. I went to Arizona State for my doctorate, and I really miss getting to hike and camp all around the state.