Jef Boeke is best known for his pioneering fundamental genetic and biochemical work on understanding the mechanisms of DNA transposition. Boeke is currently leading Sc2.0, an international team of collaborators constructing a synthetic version of the entire genome of Baker’s Yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The project could be completed as early as 2017. After graduating summa cum laude from Bowdoin College with a biochemistry degree, he received a PhD in molecular biology from Rockefeller University and did a post-doc at The Whitehead Institute at MIT.