William H. Andrews (biologist)

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William Henry Andrews (born December 10, 1951) is an American molecular biologist and biogerontologist who works to find a cure for aging. He founded Sierra Sciences and serves as its president.

Early life and education
He was born in Saginaw, Michigan, to Ralph and Margaret Andrews. His father encouraged him to become a doctor who would cure aging. He finished Cate School in 1971. He earned two BSc degrees in Biology and Psychology from the University of California, San Diego in 1976 and a PhD in Molecular and Population Genetics from the University of Georgia in 1981.

Career
Andrews began in biotech in 1981, working at Armos Corporation and Codon Corporation (which later became Berlex Biosciences after Schering bought Codon). In 1993, at a Lake Tahoe anti-aging conference, he met Geron’s Calvin Harley, who challenged him to find the human telomerase genes. Andrews joined Geron as Director of Molecular Biology. About four months later, his team cloned the RNA component of telomerase (hTR) and showed that blocking hTR could affect cancer cells. For this work, he and two teammates won second place for National Inventor of the Year in 1997 from the Intellectual Property Owners Association. His team also co-discovered the protein component of telomerase (hTERT).

In 1998 he founded Yonder Technologies, which became Sierra Sciences in 1999 in Reno, Nevada, to pursue aging cures. The company aimed to turn telomerase on in the body. From 1999 to 2005 they searched for the telomerase repressor protein to target with drugs. They were aware of Geron’s TA-65, a telomerase activator, and Andrews was the first paying customer to take it. In 2005 he shifted to high-throughput screening of chemicals to induce telomerase. In 2007 they found a chemical, C0056784, that induced about 5% of telomerase activity seen in HeLa cells. In 2008 they developed a sensitive hTERT RT-PCR assay to screen thousands of chemicals weekly. In 2010 they partnered with Isagenix to screen natural ingredients for telomerase activity; Isagenix later released a telomerase-activating product. The team also developed an hTERT gene therapy using AAV vectors, which Libella Gene Therapeutics licensed in 2017 for clinical studies.

Andrews is named on more than 50 US telomerase patents and has published numerous scientific papers. He is also an ultramarathon runner, having completed the Badwater Ultramarathon in 2008 and 2009.