The Cloning Files: Epstein's Pursuit of Human Replication

A database-driven investigation into cloning technology, de-extinction science, and the genetic infrastructure hidden in the Epstein document archive.

Database: 1,409,216 documents from DOJ releases + House Oversight Committee + 73,994 email threads + kabasshouse curated intelligence + 49,770 financial transactions + 3,038 derived timeline events Method: Full-text search across all documents and messages, cross-referenced with financial records, calendar entries, person directory, and curated intelligence Key finding: George Church confirmed he was "working toward this goal fairly rapidly" when Epstein asked if "the cloning issue" gave him pause — then described his work as including "adult human tissue cloning & genome engineering." A 4-page technical blueprint for human germline modification, including cloning via tetraploid complementation, was found in the DOJ files.

Part I: "Should We Do a Project on Cloning?"link

Before George Church confirmed his cloning work to Epstein, Epstein was already proposing cloning as a formal research initiative.

On July 1, 2011, Epstein emailed Barnaby Marsh — his science program advisor — with a list of project ideas:

"should we build a mind reader... 2. can we involve the ny acad of sciences in one of our projects... 3. should we do a project on TISSUE regeneration (cloning). 4. Im excited to accompany you as a voyeur on madarins adventure."

— Jeffrey Epstein to Barnaby Marsh, July 1, 2011 (EFTA01864382)

Cloning was item #3 on a list alongside brain decryption and the New York Academy of Sciences. This wasn't a passing thought — Epstein was asking his science advisor whether to formalize it as a funded project, four months before he would confront George Church on the same topic.

Part II: "Did the Cloning Issue Give You Pause?"link

In November 2011, Jeffrey Epstein sent George Church — Harvard's most prominent geneticist and a co-developer of CRISPR technology — a pointed question:

"sorry, you can;t make it, . did the cloning isssue , give you pause?"

— Jeffrey Epstein to George Church, November 18, 2011 (EFTA01850962)

Church's reply did not deny involvement. Instead, he explained why he was proceeding carefully:

"Yes. I'm working toward this goal fairly rapidly, but trying to do so in a way that minimizes risk to the field. James Wilson (who happened to be my physician in the 1990s) set back the field of gene therapy by a decade by rushing... My lab is good at conceiving of radically new technologies as well as improving throughput and quality by factors of ten. Given a couple of years and decent funding, this would become much more reasonable. I'm too busy doing it well to get distracted by trying to do it badly."

— George Church to Jeffrey Epstein, November 18, 2011 (EFTA01850962)

Epstein reassured Church he understood, adding that others in his circle would be "disappointed":

"I fay understand, why don't you come and i won't mention it. i just find it intellectually amusing, marving amd martin will also be disappointed"

— Jeffrey Epstein, November 2011 (EFTA01850991)

"Marving" is Marvin Minsky, the MIT AI pioneer. "Martin" is Martin Nowak, the Harvard evolutionary biologist. Both were Epstein-funded scientists who attended his regular intellectual salons.

Two days later, Church made the connection explicit:

"Thanks for understanding. Probably rather than relaxing, I'll be spending my 'spare time' in December raising funds for PersonalGenomes.org (which includes adult human tissue cloning & genome engineering)"

— George Church to Jeffrey Epstein, November 20, 2011 (EFTA01851285)

Adult human tissue cloning & genome engineering. Church stated it plainly. The Personal Genome Project — which he founded at Harvard — included cloning work. And Epstein was being briefed on it.

By April 2014, cloning was such a routine topic in Epstein's circle that Richard Merkin — CEO of Heritage Provider Network — could casually ask:

"Where are you? Any cloning updates?"

— Richard Merkin to Jeffrey Epstein, April 19, 2014 (EFTA01925437)

Epstein's reply: "Island."

This exchange establishes four facts: (1) Epstein had proposed cloning as a formal project before approaching Church, (2) Church was actively working on it and told Epstein so, (3) at least two other Epstein-funded scientists — Minsky and Nowak — were interested in the results, and (4) by 2014, associates like Merkin were checking in on "cloning updates" as routine.

Part III: "The Two of Them Could Build a Neanderthal Person"link

One year after Church's cloning admission, Martin Nowak — Harvard's Professor of Mathematics and Biology — wrote to Epstein from Vienna:

"jeffrey, i am back from rome. i am in vienna now. will be back in boston on wed. i met svante paabo (from leipzig). he sequences old bones. got a complete neanderthal genome. you would like him. he knows church. the two of them could build a neanderthal person! m"

— Martin Nowak to Jeffrey Epstein, November 12, 2012 (EFTA01765328)

Svante Paabo is the Swedish geneticist at the Max Planck Institute who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for sequencing the Neanderthal genome. Nowak had just met him in person — and immediately connected the dots for Epstein: Paabo had the genome, Church had the technology, and together "the two of them could build a neanderthal person."

This wasn't idle speculation. By 2012, Church had publicly discussed the theoretical possibility of Neanderthal cloning. In January 2013, a Der Spiegel interview was widely misquoted as Church seeking "an adventurous female human" to serve as surrogate mother for a Neanderthal clone. The story went viral.

Neil Gershenfeld — MIT professor and another Epstein associate — shared the debunking article with Epstein in July 2013:

"I assume you've seen http://www.nma.tv/viral-neanderthal-baby-surrogate-mother-story-isnt-true/"

— Neil Gershenfeld to Jeffrey Epstein, July 21, 2013 (EFTA01741902)

Epstein's response referenced a recent meeting with Church: "met with george church afterward shared our neil fan club secret handshake." In January 2014, Nowak forwarded Epstein a Harvard Gazette article: "Neanderthals' DNA legacy linked to modern ailments" (EFTA01937092).

Two years later, Lawrence Krauss was bringing Paabo closer to Epstein's orbit:

"getting interesting.. Svante Paabo will be at our event in Feb now.. (he is the guy who sequenced neanderthal genome..)"

— Lawrence Krauss to Jeffrey Epstein, October 3, 2014 (EFTA02592634)

House Oversight documents (HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023120, 023121, 023123) show Paabo was also proposed for curated dinner pairings alongside Werner Herzog, Cormac McCarthy, Obama, and Pinker — part of Epstein's strategy of mixing scientists with cultural and political figures.

The topic of Neanderthal cloning kept circulating in Epstein's network — not as science fiction, but as a practical question of when the technology would be ready.

Part IV: The $9.5 Million Human Cloning Companylink

On July 19, 2018, Epstein emailed Jeremy Rubin and Vincenzo Iozzo to vet a new contact:

"bryan bishop wants to talk to me. do you know him?"

— Jeffrey Epstein, July 19, 2018 (EFTA02600618)

Rubin replied: "Yeah I do. He's a smart guy, quirky though. Does a mix of Bitcoin things and dna data storage." (EFTA02600680)

Two days later, Bishop — a biohacker and former Bitcoin Core developer — sent Epstein his pitch deck:

"Here is a deck about my designer baby project: http://diyhpl.us/bryan/designer-babies-deck.pdf. I have talked with Austin again, and we have a series of questions about how serious you are about wanting this, and what the ground rules are for me even exploring this with you... Most of these questions are around your requirements for secrecy and privacy"

— Bryan Bishop to Jeffrey Epstein, July 21, 2018 (vol00009-efta01004801-pdf)

Epstein replied:

"im traveling in mid east until the 1st. lets do it after that, i have no issue with investing the problem is only if i am seen to lead."

— Jeffrey Epstein, July 2018

Bishop understood:

"Sounds like you could be the first investor as long as absolute anonymity is kept. I have always envisioned there would be anonymity requirements about babies — we can't publicly identify who these are or their parents or benefactors, it would brand the child as (essentially, and sadly) a freak for life in the media."

— Bryan Bishop, July 22, 2018 (vol00009-efta01004841-pdf)

Epstein's response: "i cant program but i am not bad at structuring :)"

In that same exchange, Bishop revealed a second project hidden inside the first:

"I think that one way this could be done is under the banner of my designer babies project, since the other deliverable is similar and shares so many of the same procedures and lab requirements. This might offer a sufficient level of deniability."

— Bryan Bishop, July 2018 (vol00009-efta01004795-pdf)

What was "the other deliverable" that required "deniability"?

The Meetingslink

Calendar entries confirm formal meetings took place. On August 2, 2018, Epstein's schedule included:

"Designer babies (Bryan Bishop) @ Thu Aug 2, 2018 4pm-5pm. Agenda: Designer babies, structuring, finance, privacy, project goals, feasible outcomes, timelines."

The video call link was appear.in/taxmastergenetics — a URL that combines "tax" structuring with "genetics" (EFTA02598225, EFTA02252527).

On August 5, 2018, Bishop sent the document Epstein had requested:

"Attached is the doc you requested, it's the 'use of funds' spreadsheet for the designer baby and human cloning company. This gets us out of our self-funded 'garage biology' phase to the first live birth of a human designer baby, and possibly a human clone, within 5 years. Once we reach the first birth, everything changes and the world will never be the same again, much less the future of the human species. Attached doc shows — $1.7m/year for up to 5 years + $1m for lab setup. (~$9.5m to fund 5 years, $6m for 3 years)."

— Bryan Bishop to Jeffrey Epstein, August 5, 2018 (EFTA02604748)

Epstein's response: "no rush."

The Labslink

On August 30, 2018, Bishop provided operational updates that revealed the project was already underway across multiple jurisdictions:

"Other updates: proceeding with more mouse testing at my ukraine lab (surgeries/microinjection) - amateur in Mississippi has been testing human sperm modification (just fluorescent tagging so far, doesn't work for my purposes yet)"

— Bryan Bishop, August 30, 2018 (EFTA02625486)

Epstein's response to these updates:

"i like implant embryo, wait 9 months. great ending"

— Jeffrey Epstein, August 30, 2018 (EFTA02625511)

In the same thread, Bishop shared research on interspecies reproductive biology: "Fusion of bull and human sperm with Nicotiana protoplasts" — a paper on fusing bovine and human sperm with plant cells (EFTA02625362).

By September, Bishop was sending Epstein technical references for due diligence: links to human-germline-key-references.pdf and human-germline-genetic-modification-outline.pdf (EFTA02624289).

Part V: The Technical Blueprintlink

Among the most significant documents uncovered in the DOJ corpus is a 4-page technical reference titled "Key references for human germline genetic editing — Narrative outline of our project: Human Germline Genetic Modification" (EFTA00804855).

The document lays out a systematic plan for modifying the human germline, covering:

• Testis-mediated gene transfer: "Our approach is testis-mediated gene transfer (transfection of sperm stem cells)"
• CRISPR knock-in: Methods for inserting transgenes at specific genome locations
• Base editing in human embryos: Correction of genetic mutations
• Cell sorting: Techniques to extract transgenic sperm "even if they are a tiny fraction of the total"
• In vitro gametogenesis: Making eggs and sperm from iPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells)

Most critically, the document addresses human cloning directly:

"Cloning Mice and Men: Prohibiting the Use of iPS Cells for Human Reproductive Cloning — Paper calling for tetraploid complementation to be banned in humans, because it can be used for cloning... This is a method we are interested in using."

— EFTA00804855, p. 3

And on somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT):

"A highly efficient method for generation of therapeutic quality human pluripotent stem cells by using naive induced pluripotent stem cells nucleus for nuclear transfer — Theoretical approach using iPSCs for nuclear transfer, sadly not researched further since there's no true 'medical' need to do it. But we will try it out."

— EFTA00804855, p. 3

The document's research questions reveal its operational intent:

"1) Is it possible to reduce potential toxicity of testis-mediated gene transfer, while maintaining efficiency? 2) Can a small quantity of transformed sperm cells be sorted out of millions of cells? 3) Is it more practical to target sperm stem cells in the testis, or better to invest in R&D on in vitro spermatogenesis or in vitro oocyte genesis?"

— EFTA00804855, p. 4

This is not a literature review. It is a project plan. The repeated use of "our project," "our approach," "we are interested in using," and "we will try it out" establishes that someone was actively developing a human cloning and germline modification program — and the document was found in Epstein's files.

Part VI: "More Similar to Cloning"link

In November 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced the birth of the world's first CRISPR-edited babies — twin girls with modified CCR5 genes intended to confer HIV resistance. The announcement shocked the scientific community.

Bryan Bishop had a front-row seat. He was physically present at the Hong Kong summit where He Jiankui presented, typed a real-time transcript, and immediately shared it with Epstein and Austin Hill (EFTA01015238).

In his email to Epstein, Bishop revealed his own parallel work:

"My team has been working on a new technique which does not involve stem cells in the testis, instead it's an embryo editing technique more similar to cloning which does not require an injection to the biodad. The idea hit us like a bolt of lightning so we're moving along in that direction. Meanwhile our overseas lab has reported some mouse testis transfection results. They are observing maybe 5% transfection efficiency"

— Bryan Bishop, November 26, 2018 (vol00009-efta01015526-pdf)

Epstein's response to the Chinese CRISPR baby news: "great."

The next day, Epstein forwarded the New York Times article about the gene-edited babies, adding a boast:

"isnt it nice to hear things before they actually happen"

— Jeffrey Epstein, November 27, 2018 (EFTA02614588)

The reply — "Very cool" — was CC'd to Eva Dubin ICE. Epstein was claiming advance knowledge of the Chinese CRISPR babies and sharing the news with Glenn Dubin's wife.

Bishop also reported on the legal landscape. In October 2018, Japan announced it was allowing human embryo gene editing:

"Japan announced they are allowing human embryo gene editing... I happened to be in Tokyo last week speaking with a handful of investors... Legality — we can do R&D in the US but yes I will need to do careful analysis about medical tourism... We can just sell the additive DNA to those overseas clinics."

— Bryan Bishop, October 16, 2018 (vol00009-efta01019549-pdf)

That same day, Epstein forwarded himself a Nature article: "Where in the world could the first CRISPR baby be born?" (EFTA02618078) — researching jurisdictions while simultaneously discussing the topic with Bishop.

Epstein pushed back — not on ethics, but on legal exposure:

"we need to get a read on legal. first. cant do anything where US rules apply to us citizens regardless of where"

The pattern is clear: Bishop was developing cloning-adjacent reproductive technology, seeking offshore jurisdictions where US law wouldn't apply, and Epstein was providing financial structuring expertise while insisting on anonymity. A Ukraine lab was running mouse surgeries. A Mississippi amateur was testing human sperm modification. And a "second deliverable" beyond designer babies required "deniability."

Part VII: Epstein's Cell Lineslink

On June 25, 2013, George Church asked a question that reveals how the genomic work was structured:

"Does he want this done as part of PersonalGenomes.org research or more privately?"

— George Church, June 25, 2013 (EFTA00963693)

Three days later, Epstein underwent a skin cell biopsy and blood draw at Massachusetts General Hospital as part of Church's Personal Genome Project. His account had been created the same day — email: jeevacation@gmail.com (EFTA02571452).

Church coordinated the logistics:

"the MD and biopsy parts are scheduled... need to know the time of day so the technicians can get the skin cells growing"

— George Church, June 2013 (vol00009-efta00388263-pdf)

Dr. Joe Thakuria, Medical Director of the Personal Genome Project, performed the procedure at MGH's Yawkey building. Thakuria noted: "Jeffrey needs to be fully enrolled before blood draw and skin biopsy per our protocol."

Two months later, Thakuria reported the results:

"Jeffrey's skin biopsy resulted in several successful, viable fibroblast cultures. Those cell lines are now stored in liquid nitrogen and slated for iPS cell line ('adult stem cells') creation."

— Joe Thakuria to Lesley Groff, August 2013 (EFTA02720568)

By December 2013, Thakuria elaborated on the possibilities:

"Jeffrey already has fibroblast cell lines from the skin biopsy done for the pgp. Induced pluripotent stem cells (adult stem cells) can be made from these. They can also be induced to differentiate into various cell types including neurons... iPS cells costs around $10k and the process takes about 6 months... Jeffrey sounded excited about that possibility."

— Joe Thakuria, December 12, 2013 (EFTA00378030)

Thakuria's February 2014 proposal letter to Epstein went further, describing the full scope of work contemplated:

"Your interests could be considered self-discovery using the latest in genomics tools: including a) sequencing, b) data analyses and storage, and c) genomic and functional manipulation of your own iPS and other cell lines."

— Joe Thakuria, February 10, 2014 (EFTA01140225)

Genomic and functional manipulation of your own cell lines. Not just storage. Not just sequencing. Manipulation.

The financial paper trail reveals the negotiation behind this work. Thakuria initially proposed $324,000 per year for genomic services. Epstein rejected it: "No way." After months of back-and-forth, the price was negotiated down — a $2,000 check for exome sequencing (EFTA00304572, physical check image in DOJ files, Deutsche Bank account) plus additional payments totaling approximately $15,000 (EFTA02581206, EFTA02500395).

On June 21, 2014, Thakuria collected another sample — a saliva sample — during a lunch that also included George Church. The events database confirms the full schedule that day: 11:00am Martin Nowak, 12:00pm Lunch with George Church, 1:30pm Joe Thakuria to take JE's saliva sample, 2:00pm Joscha Bach.

Meanwhile, Epstein maintained sperm stored at California Cryobank. In May 2016, Epstein emailed urologist Harry Fisch: "harry i want to bank some sperm, where do I go? prescription?" (vol00009-efta00534034-pdf). A 2012 renewal notice showed an earlier cryobank relationship (EFTA01803679). By July 2016, his girlfriend Karyna Shuliak was handling the California Cryobank paperwork (EFTA02456848, EFTA02459118).

Between the fibroblast cell lines at Harvard, the iPS cells at MGH, and the cryopreserved sperm in California, Epstein had biological material stored across multiple facilities — the raw ingredients for reproductive cloning or genetic engineering. And the question of whether to do the work "publicly" through PersonalGenomes.org or "more privately" had been raised at the outset.

Part VIII: The Organ Pipelinelink

In July 2014, Church sent Epstein a $10 million investment proposal spanning nine ventures. A formal Harvard Medical School investment prospectus listed the Church Lab's capabilities, including explicitly:

"mammalian cloning... developmental biology of embryos and organoids in cell culture... genome editing (via MAGE, Zn fingers, CRISPR, and recombinases)... humanized animals for research and organ transplants... aging reversal... de-extinction, and Cas9 gene-drives"

— Harvard Medical School, Church Lab Investment Prospectus (EFTA00583254)

Among the nine specific ventures Church proposed:

Source: George Church to Jeffrey Epstein, July 11, 2014 (EFTA01917108)

Epstein responded: "lets start on first investment" and "decide what you would like to call your investment co."

By October 2014, Luhan Yang sent Epstein a formal term sheet for eGenesis: $1.5 million as a convertible note with 15% discount rate and 8% interest, or 9.09% preferred shares at a $15M pre-money valuation (EFTA02676772). The formal legal term sheet — a Delaware corporation document — is preserved in the DOJ files (EFTA01139487).

A conference call on October 21, 2014, brought together Church, James Clement (supercentenarian researcher), and Luhan Yang — with Epstein listed as "LEADER" of the call.

By October 2015, Epstein had committed to a larger investment. He told Church directly:

"I told goeff you will invest 5 million first round"

— Jeffrey Epstein to George Church, October 27, 2015 (EFTA02482381)

Church replied: "That is great news. Thanks."

But by late December 2015, Church was pushing for a $27 million valuation. Epstein turned to Boris Nikolic — former science advisor to Bill Gates — for advice:

"george is asking for his money at a 27 m valuation. what would you like me to do"

— Jeffrey Epstein to Boris Nikolic, December 29, 2015 (EFTA00666292)

Nikolic's reply was blunt:

"I think that 5MM would be fair. I would go to 7MM. I would consider even super stretch at 10 but 27MM is totally crazy. I told this to them — and George was on a phone. Even more serious problem is that they do not realize how inexperienced they are."

— Boris Nikolic, December 30, 2015 (EFTA00666292)

By January 2016, eGenesis CEO Geoff MacKay was pressing to finalize a $5M convertible note as a seed fund (EFTA02476569). Epstein pushed back on the ROI projections: "geoff, roi makes little sense how many dollars." The corporate shell for the investment — Georgarage LLC — was filed with the Delaware Secretary of State, paid for by Epstein's attorney Darren Indyke (EFTA01346770).

eGenesis went on to become one of the most significant xenotransplantation companies in the world — performing the first pig-to-human kidney transplant in 2024.

Part IX: The Network Infrastructurelink

Photographs in the DOJ corpus confirm that Epstein's genetics circle visited his private island:

"George Church is the one on the left, don't know who is next to him, yellow shirt is Steve Miller, Red shirt is Martin Nowak, don't know who the girl is, next to him is Dimitar Sasselov, and sitting in chair is Seth Lloyd"

— Photo identification document, 2012 (EFTA00535386)

George Church, Martin Nowak, Seth Lloyd, and Dimitar Sasselov — all photographed together on Jeffrey Epstein's island.

Nowak's Harvard Institute — the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at 1 Brattle Square — functioned as the regular meeting venue. But the relationship went deeper than scheduling. In September 2017, Epstein's staff received new key cards for Martin Nowak's office:

"Wanted you to know we have received new key cards for Martin Nowak's office. They are in my drawer in the oval office still in an envelope marked 'Martin Nowak Key Cards'"

— Lesley Groff, September 15, 2017 (EFTA02327993)

Epstein's staff had their own key cards to a Harvard professor's office. And by 2006, Epstein was already proposing to staff Church's lab directly:

"you can talk to george church and get up to speed on the personal gemonics that he is doing... i will hire post docs to work for him"

— Jeffrey Epstein, September 5, 2006 (e16697e9aa78decfa10e62a4c08d3815)

In April 2017, Nowak credited Epstein as the catalyst for one of the most consequential collaborations in gene-editing science:

"great new paper out today on how to use CRISPR gene drive technology in natural populations. the collaboration with george church was induced by you!!"

— Martin Nowak to Jeffrey Epstein, April 6, 2017 (vol00009-efta00707374-pdf)

Epstein wasn't just funding science. He was directing collaborations, staffing labs, and maintaining physical access to Harvard facilities.

Part X: Dinochicken, Mammoths, and De-Extinctionlink

Epstein's interest in resurrecting extinct species extended beyond Church's mammoth proposal. In 2012, he was funding Jack Horner — the legendary paleontologist who served as the scientific advisor for Jurassic Park — on the "Dinochicken" project at Montana State University.

The concept: reverse-engineer chickens to activate dormant ancestral dinosaur traits — growing tails, teeth, and clawed arms on living birds. After visiting Epstein's Zorro Ranch in New Mexico, Horner wrote:

"Dear Jeffrey, First off, many thanks for the invitation to your ranch, I had a great time, especially spending time with you and the girls, and seeing your Cretaceous sediments and the old railroad... I talked to my post docs and Co-PI when I returned and got the scoop on the transgenic chickens situation... What it is that we need to do is to be able to target a specific region of DNA, and that technology is not yet available in birds, but is expected within a year or two... Please give all the girls my very best wishes, and to you, whom I envy."

— Jack Horner to Jeffrey Epstein, September 1, 2012 (EFTA02680513)

Horner was flown first-class to Zorro Ranch on Epstein's AmEx Centurion card. Epstein funded the subsequent Dinochicken Summit at Montana State University and requested geological maps of the ranch for Horner. Danny Hillis and Martin Nowak were invited to visit the ranch simultaneously to "dig for dinosaur bones" (EFTA00407728).

Meanwhile, Church's $10M proposal included $200,000 for "cold-resistant elephants" — CRISPR-editing Asian elephants with woolly mammoth genes for cold tolerance:

"Making cold-resistant elephants via CRISPR, focusing on blood, subcutaneous fat and wool/hair (based on what is known about cold-resistant animals, Mammoth DNA, and human mutations). Economics could be like the American Bison which recently grew from a hundred to 500,000 as a source of low cholesterol meat."

— George Church, July 2014 (EFTA01917108)

This project became Colossal Biosciences, which Church co-founded in 2021 with $15 million in seed funding. By 2023, Colossal had raised over $225 million for mammoth de-extinction and thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) resurrection.

As late as June 2019 — one month before Epstein's arrest — mammoth de-extinction articles were still being forwarded to his email:

"De-extinction, bringing extinct species back from the dead, is now on the table thanks to the revolutionary gene-editing technology CRISPR."

— Forwarded to Epstein, June 20, 2019 (HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_025332)

Part XI: The Forbidden Research Agendalink

In July 2016, MIT Media Lab hosted a secret meeting called "Forbidden Research" — and cloning was explicitly on the agenda.

Joscha Bach, an AI researcher in Epstein's circle, sent a brainstorm document listing the topics:

"Germline modification, cloning, extended PID etc. will likely not have harmful effects on the whole of society if they are studied at a very small scale"

— Joscha Bach, July 2016 (EFTA02458524)

The proposed invite list included George Church, Steven Wolfram, Seth Lloyd, Paul Graham, Jeffrey Epstein, Reid Hoffman, Demis Hassabis, Max Tegmark, and Noam Chomsky.

Joi Ito, then-director of the MIT Media Lab, personally invited Epstein:

"you should come to the secret Forbidden Research meeting at the Lab. Reid will be there. It will be off the record."

— Joi Ito to Jeffrey Epstein, July 2016 (EFTA02476477)

Ito also offered to extend the gathering beyond the official event:

"I can drag interesting people over to the house for meetings with you, me and Reid."

— Joi Ito, July 2016 (EFTA02458760)

Eighteen months later, in January 2018, Ito sent Epstein a research center proposal — originally pitched to billionaire Ronald Perelman — built around what Ito called a "dream team" including Kevin Esvelt (gene drive pioneer), Hugh Herr (bionic limbs), and Ed Boyden (optogenetics). Epstein questioned the framing:

"I think the team is great... we can discuss if it always needs to be about curing the sick, as opposed to enhancement"

— Jeffrey Epstein, January 8, 2018 (EFTA02540508)

Ito's reply:

"Yes. Curing sick is code for augmentation."

— Joi Ito, January 8, 2018 (EFTA02540508)

The Forbidden Research meeting combined cloning, germline modification, psychedelics, CRISPR, wealth distribution, and mass control under one umbrella — topics deemed too controversial for public academic discourse. Epstein was invited not as an observer but as a participant, alongside the scientists whose work he was funding. And the head of MIT Media Lab was privately acknowledging that "curing the sick" was marketing language for human augmentation.

Part XII: "The World's Expert on Cloning"link

Epstein's access to cloning expertise predated the Church relationship by years. In April 2006, Stephen Kosslyn — then chair of Harvard's Psychology Department — organized a dinner for Epstein:

"In addition to George Church, The Dersh, and me, who would he like to invite? Gary and George Daly (the world's expert on cloning, it turns out)?"

— Cecilia Steen (on behalf of Stephen Kosslyn), April 16, 2006 (thread 738eb56c27495ced50e8c41a7366d9bc)

George Daly was the dean of Harvard Medical School and a pioneer in stem cell and cloning research. "The Dersh" is Alan Dershowitz. Kosslyn was casually assembling a dinner with two of the world's leading figures in cloning and genetics — for Epstein.

By October 2007, Church was proposing meeting topics directly:

"re-engineering humans"

— George Church, proposed meeting topic, October 22, 2007

Epstein wasn't just attending scientific lectures. He was dining privately with the people who could actually make cloning happen, discussing it as a practical agenda item.

Part XIII: Chimeras, Young Blood, and the DNA Collectionlink

The cloning infrastructure existed within a broader pattern of Epstein's obsession with biological manipulation.

Chimeras and Xenotransplantationlink

Boris Nikolic — who would later be named successor executor of Epstein's estate — briefed Epstein on the state of interspecies biology as early as January 2010:

"Xenotransplantation is cool. Not only that it can answer many basic answers and provide unlimited pool of organs but also think about really important application — transplantation of the horse penis ;)"

— Boris Nikolic to Jeffrey Epstein, January 18, 2010 (EFTA00764931)

Crude humor aside, the same correspondence discussed mouse-human chimeric brains and immune system chimeras. Nikolic tracked the CRISPR patent war between Jennifer Doudna and Feng Zhang for Epstein (EFTA02389983) and served as his key advisor on gene-editing investments.

Monkey Cloneslink

In January 2018, Chinese researchers announced the first successful cloning of primates using somatic cell nuclear transfer — the same technique used to create Dolly the sheep. Richard Merkin forwarded the National Geographic article to Epstein. Epstein's response:

"yes, i can see liitle dicks running around"

— Jeffrey Epstein (EFTA02534688)

Epstein also shared the story with Joi Ito (EFTA02534832).

Animal-Human Embryo Hybridslink

In July 2011, someone in Epstein's circle forwarded a Daily Mail article with the subject line:

"COOOOL let's go visit?"

— July 23, 2011 (EFTA01860366)

The article: "Embryos involving genes of animals mixed with humans produced secretively past years."

Young Bloodlink

Boris Nikolic forwarded Epstein research on cellular aging and parabiosis — the practice of transfusing young blood into older subjects. Epstein's response:

"LOVE how it starts 'Memo to mature, health-minded vampires: You might want to consider limiting your treats to victims under age 30.' Jee was right all along!!!!!!!!!!!!"

— Jeffrey Epstein (EFTA02031516)

A 2017 document titled "Scientists and Science of Interest" listed the parabiosis researcher Tony Wyss-Coray (Stanford) as the #1 topic of interest (EFTA02361620).

The DNA Collectionlink

Epstein's 23andMe activity went beyond personal curiosity. In September 2016, kits were ordered for Woody Allen: "Merwin please keep an eye out for them...we need to take to Woody Allen once they arrive" (EFTA01780903). The following month, Soon-Yi Previn sent her full 23andMe Ancestry Composition Report directly to Epstein (vol00009-efta00814378-pdf).

In June 2017, Epstein ordered 30 Health + Ancestry Service kits from 23andMe — including Neanderthal Ancestry reports — for Sultan Binsulayem: "ha! his name is Sultan!" (EFTA02214280). The order was eventually invalidated after 23andMe discovered the kits were being shipped outside the United States, violating their terms of service (EFTA02218040).

Additional kits were ordered for someone named "Jabor" (EFTA02324345), with Epstein's assistant Karyna Shuliak registering the kit using Lesley Groff's email.

CRISPR Gene Drives and Sex Chromosomeslink

In June 2017, Martin Nowak offered Epstein access to cutting-edge graduate researchers:

"do you want to meet with some of the brilliant students at PED? chuck noble on CRISPR gene drive or carl yeller on sex determining chromosomes. both amazing!"

— Martin Nowak to Jeffrey Epstein, June 28, 2017 (EFTA02645980)

CRISPR gene drives and sex determining chromosomes — both offered to Epstein as casual meeting options at Harvard.

Part XIV: The Last Conversationlink

The relationship between Church and Epstein continued until the very end. On December 2, 2018 — seven months before Epstein's arrest — Church visited Epstein. The next day, Epstein wrote:

"lots of fun yesterday, thx for coming. I was surprised to hear that with 27 cos formed you were still concerned about money?"

— Jeffrey Epstein, December 2, 2018 (EFTA02612704)

Church explained his financial situation — 15 of his 27 companies were formed in 2018 alone, and his largest grant was being discontinued despite success. Epstein pressed for details:

"1. separate issues are your financials and your labs. 2. have you monetized parts of the cos? 3. lab budget? current and ideal? 4. why would assume that making some organ younger would still be able to be controlled by an older brain?"

— Jeffrey Epstein, December 2018

Question #4 reveals Epstein's engagement wasn't casual. He was thinking critically about the biology — questioning whether age-reversal of individual organs would create compatibility problems with the aging brain. This is not a patron writing checks. This is someone intellectually invested in the science.

In February 2019, five months before arrest, Epstein received an invitation to the BrainMind Summit at MIT, featuring Church as a presenter. His final known response:

"thanks, if i come to the west coast. will you have the courage to meet? :)"

— Jeffrey Epstein, February 2019 (EFTA01029072)

Part XV: What the Documents Don't Showlink

Several viral claims about cloning in the Epstein files do not survive contact with the primary sources.

"Neanderthal Clones in Underground Tunnels"link

No document in the archive references Neanderthal clones being created in tunnels. The only "underground tunnel" reference is Epstein evaluating a Marrakech property with "underground disco... underground tunnels" as architectural features (EFTA02653706). Martin Nowak did suggest Church and Paabo "could build a neanderthal person," but this was a speculative comment about theoretical capability — not evidence of an active program.

"Biden Clone Replacement"link

Zero evidence. Biden appears in the archive only in peripheral political contexts — a guest list alongside Clinton for an event, unverified FBI tips from anonymous sources, and social media screenshot captures from third-party conspiracy accounts. No emails discuss body doubles, clones, or replacements of any political figure.

"Organ Harvesting" / "Brain Dead Labeling"link

No evidence of organ harvesting operations. "Brain dead" appears twice in the archive: once about a relative with listeria meningitis in a coma, once about comedians Sarah Silverman and Ricky Gervais. The eGenesis program involved engineering pig organs for transplant — legitimate xenotransplantation science, not harvesting from humans.

"Body Doubles"link

The phrase "body double" appears in multiple emails — but refers to Body Double, a commercial silicone casting and molding product. "Located the body double as there was none on island" and "3 containers of regular body double and one container of fast drying body double" (EFTA02365470). This is an art supply, not evidence of human duplication.

Part XVI: The Financial Infrastructurelink

The financial databases reveal money flows connected to Epstein's biological interests:

The $453,959.81 in credits from Regen Medical PC — a regenerative medicine practice at an Upper East Side address — is notable. These are payments flowing to Epstein, not from him, suggesting either investment returns or a financial arrangement with a regenerative medicine provider. Steven Victor, who ran IntelliCell BioSciences (later ReGen Medical), actively solicited Epstein's investment: "PLEASE..Need help to get the Infomercial on the air ASAP — You can invest $500k" (EFTA02442988).

The early payments to Nowak (2001) and Kosslyn (2000) place the financial relationships at least five years before the first documented cloning dinner in 2006.

Part XVII: Timelinelink

Part XVIII: What the Documents Showlink

The Epstein document archive — now searched across 1.4 million DOJ documents, 73,994 email threads, 49,770 financial transactions, and 3,038 derived timeline events — reveals a systematic, 13-year engagement with cloning technology and reproductive genetic engineering.

What is documented:

1. Epstein proposed cloning as a formal project in July 2011, asking his science advisor: "should we do a project on TISSUE regeneration (cloning)." Four months later, he confronted George Church on the topic.

2. George Church confirmed active cloning work to Epstein in 2011, describing it as "adult human tissue cloning & genome engineering" and stating he was "working toward this goal fairly rapidly." A Harvard Medical School investment prospectus explicitly listed "mammalian cloning" as a Church Lab capability being offered to investors.

3. A $9.5 million human cloning company was pitched to Epstein in 2018, with a stated goal of achieving "the first live birth of a human designer baby, and possibly a human clone, within 5 years." The project had an active Ukraine lab running mouse surgeries, a Mississippi amateur testing human sperm modification, and a second deliverable beyond designer babies that required "deniability."

4. A 4-page technical blueprint for human germline modification was found in the DOJ files. It describes cloning via tetraploid complementation ("this is a method we are interested in using"), somatic cell nuclear transfer ("we will try it out"), testis-mediated gene transfer, CRISPR knock-in, and in vitro gametogenesis. This is a project plan, not a literature review.

5. Neanderthal cloning was discussed as a practical possibility within Epstein's circle. Martin Nowak directly told Epstein that George Church and Svante Paabo "could build a neanderthal person." Church's mammoth de-extinction project — which Epstein was asked to fund — later became Colossal Biosciences.

6. Epstein's own biological material was collected, cultured, and stored at Harvard and MGH — fibroblast cell lines in liquid nitrogen, iPS cells in creation, sperm at California Cryobank. Thakuria's proposal explicitly described "genomic and functional manipulation of your own iPS and other cell lines." Church asked whether the work should be done publicly or "more privately."

7. Cloning was on the formal agenda of MIT's secret "Forbidden Research" meeting, to which Epstein was personally invited. Joi Ito privately acknowledged that "curing the sick is code for augmentation."

8. The network spanned the world's top cloning experts: George Church (CRISPR co-developer), George Daly ("world's expert on cloning"), Svante Paabo (Nobel laureate, Neanderthal genome), Luhan Yang (eGenesis, xenotransplantation), Jack Horner (de-extinction), Bryan Bishop (biohacker, designer babies), Boris Nikolic (CRISPR investment strategist), and James Clement (longevity CRISPR therapeutics). Nowak credited Epstein with inducing the Church-Nowak gene drive collaboration.

9. Epstein maintained physical infrastructure at Harvard: key cards to Nowak's office, a Georgarage LLC corporate shell for eGenesis investment, and offered to hire postdocs for Church's lab. Photos in the DOJ corpus show Church, Nowak, Seth Lloyd, and Dimitar Sasselov on Epstein's island.

10. Anonymity was the consistent requirement. Epstein told Bishop: "i have no issue with investing the problem is only if i am seen to lead." Bishop proposed "absolute anonymity" for both investors and babies, and "deniability" for an unnamed second project. Epstein offered his structuring expertise: "i cant program but i am not bad at structuring :)."

11. Epstein claimed advance knowledge of the Chinese CRISPR baby announcement. On the day the story broke, he wrote: "isnt it nice to hear things before they actually happen" — CC'd to Eva Dubin. His man on the ground, Bryan Bishop, had typed a real-time transcript of He Jiankui's summit presentation.

What is not documented: Neanderthal clones in tunnels, Biden replacements, organ harvesting, or body doubles. The real story is disturbing enough without embellishment — a convicted sex offender funding the world's most advanced genetic engineering research, proposing cloning as a formal project, maintaining his own cell lines for "manipulation," and insisting no one know his name was attached.

The documents speak. Every claim above is verifiable against the source documents on this site.

Report generated from primary source analysis of 1,409,216 DOJ documents, 73,994 email threads, 49,770 financial transactions, and 3,038 timeline events in the Epstein document archive. All EFTA references link to original documents. No editorial interpretation has been added beyond what the documents themselves state.