The start-up that translates the ABCs of DNA Genome Compiler is
not your typical Tel Aviv start-up: It aims to exploit genes to
make our kids' lives greener, cleaner and better. Glowing fish
instead of nightlights, anyone? In a perfectly usual Tel Aviv
apartment near ritzy Rothschild Boulevard, the Israeli team
behind Genome Compiler is busy writing code. One might think
it's just another Internet or phone-app start-up, like the
dozens clustered in the neighborhood. But Genome Compiler is
anything but just another start-up. Founded last year by
34-year-old biochemist Omri Amirav-Drory, Genome Compiler aims
to develop software for writing genetic sequences. A creepy
cobwebby castle might have been a more appropriate backdrop for
this company, for all its cutting-edge aspirations. "I want to
plan living beings," says Amirav-Drory. A Frankensteinian
fantasy? Not at all. How could it be done? By harnessing biology
to wean the world of its dependence on non-renewable resources,
he explains. "We are entirely depend