John Sterling's Biography

John Sterling, Editor-in-Chief, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

John Sterling joined Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News as an assistant editor in 1984 and became editor-in-chief in 1985. He holds a B.S. in biology from CCNY and a Master of Arts in journalism from the University of Minnesota. John also was a graduate student at Hunter College where he majored in biological anthropology, focusing on the morphological and genetic aspects of human evolution. He is an active member of the National Association of Science Writers, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the American Association of Anthropological Genetics, and has received journalism fellowships from the University of Minnesota, the University of Maryland, and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech University. He is a frequent guest speaker and moderator of biotechnology panel discussions at conferences in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. At the invitation of The Chinese Academy of Sciences, John gave a presentation in Beijing in September 2007 on the importance of international collaborations in biotechnology. In April 2008, the U.S. National Science Foundation selected him as only one of 40 invited participants for a conference in Arizona on educating biotechnicians for future bioindustry needs. The results and recommendations of the conference were subsequently published in an official NSF report. In 2009, John was asked to serve as Co-Chair of the Program Committee for the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s Annual Conference in Chicago in May 2010. This marked the first time that BIO asked a member of the media to be a co-chair for the annual BIO conference. In 2011, the EDB Group requested that John organize and moderate a panel discussion on personalized medicine and epigenetics for the Bio-Europe Spring 2011 International Biopartnering Conference, which took place in Milan, Italy, in March. In November 2011, at the 6th International Conference on Genomics in Shenzhen, China, John delivered a presentation and led a panel discussion on ways to improve communication between Chinese researchers and their scientific colleagues in other parts of the globe.