Making the world a better place aboard a boat is something only a maverick like Dr. Jonathan Rothberg could accomplish. His mantra of ‘feed, fuel, and heal the world’ is becoming a reality, taking shape through the work conducted on the Amels 180 Gene Machine and its action-packed companion vessel, the Damen Yachting Gene Chaser. As a scientist known for his contributions to genomics and DNA sequencing, Rothberg, along with his family, witnessed firsthand the effects of global warming during a family trip to the polar region in 2017.
This experience inspired the transformation of the 180-footer into a floating laboratory, equipped with two labs — one enclosed and air-conditioned, the other in an open hangar. Summers for the Rothberg family, which includes a scientist father, an MD mother named Bonnie, and five children, are spent on the Gene Machine. ‘My children are incredibly close, and being together on board is part of that. I love giving them unique experiences,’ Dr. Rothberg shared. Let’s take a look at the Gene Machine, a boat so uniquely named that it instantly reveals the interests and occupation of its owner.
A mean machine meant for the greater good:
Balancing science and luxury is not just a possibility but a reality that Dr. Jonathan Rothberg and his family seem to have mastered. The Rothberg family was fortunate with this Amels 180, originally built for Dmitry Yakubovskiy, a Russian entrepreneur, and his children. ‘I understood that the family would be spending a lot of time aboard,’ says Captain Fraser Gow. ‘What he meant was five and a half to six months of the year! He likes the boat so much we have to kick him off for maintenance periods.’
The founder of 454 Life Sciences converted the main salon of the yacht into a laboratory, focusing specifically on developing a coronavirus home test kit. Gene Machine, boasting exteriors by Tim Heywood Design, mixes pleasure with business. The family engages in everything from paragliding above glaciers and watching polar bears to beach cookouts and observing the Northern Lights while studying the earth’s smallest self-replicating organism, bacteriophage, densely concentrated in seawater.
To assist his daughter Elena with her research, a lab bench was set up for her in the Sky Lounge to test samples. The agenda here is clearly not to make the most of the views and enjoy the scenery but to ensure our planet continues to stay this beautiful and safe.
The luxurious vessel, thats equipped with a brain or two, accommodates ten guests in 5 suites. Its interior, styled by the design house Laura Sessa Romboli, features scientific equipment and a spacious beach club.
The owners of this $35 million superyacht unwind in a supremely spacious full-beam master suite, complete with his and her bathrooms. Powered by twin diesel MTU (16V 2000 M70) 16-cylinder engines, the yacht cruises at 13 knots and can reach a maximum speed of 15 knots.
Gene Machine is complemented by another remarkable boat, the ‘Gene Chaser,’ designed for scientific initiatives and equipped for fully functional research on the water.
Who is Dr. Jonathan Rothberg?
This 60-year-old American scientist received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama in 2016 for his pioneering inventions and commercialization of next-generation DNA sequencing technologies. Born in Connecticut, the son of a chemical engineer, he earned a BS in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1985. The Yale graduate later founded CuraGen in 1991, one of the first genomics companies. Remarkably, in less than a decade, the company went public in 1999 and boasted a market cap of $5 billion, surpassing that of American Airlines.
He has since developed multiple life science and medical device companies, including Ion Torrent, AI Therapeutics, Butterfly Network, 4Catalyzer, and 4Bionics. According to superyachtfan, Rothberg has accumulated an estimated net worth of around $500 million. He resides with his wife in a massive waterfront home in Sachem Head. The property, named the Circle of Life, features an 11-acre garden and a private karting track.
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