Biotech Barbie Had a Hard Year

Cathy Tie spent a Friday afternoon at Carnegie Hall, eating a gyro and preparing for her 30th-birthday party. She rented Zankel Hall by contacting Carnegie, paying the listed rate, and using the venue’s quiet, wood-paneled space with only minor subway vibrations. The event featured a formal black-tie program with piano and opera elements, including her performance of Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor. Guests were invited to sing “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” to her. The program also displayed Origin Genomics branding, describing a goal of gene-editing embryos to prevent inherited disease. Tie changed into a gown in a dressing room with an upright piano and a sequined outfit laid out for her.

"At 3:30 p.m. on a Friday, Cathy Tie sat in Carnegie Hall, wearing a pink sweatsuit bedazzled with cherries, eating a gyro. Tonight was her 30th-birthday party. She'd had a bad year. So she rented out Zankel Hall, which, it turns out, is a thing you can do: Call Carnegie, get the rate sheet, send money. Done. Zankel is graciously wood-paneled with only slight vibrations rumbling up from the Seventh Avenue subway, and it was very empty."

"In the house seats: just Tie, Tie's friends Peter and Michael, who would be playing piano and singing some opera; Tie's videographer; Tie's page-turner; and Tie's piano teacher, who had her hair messily clipped on top of her head and a way of pressing her fingers into your arm that made your whole self relax. That evening, as the program stated, Tie would perform "Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor by Camille ­Saint-Saëns, bringing both technical rigor and expressive nuance." Guests would be invited to "sing 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' TO CATHY!" The dress code: black tie."

"At the bottom of the program was the double- helix-inflected logo for Origin Genomics, Tie's newest company. Its stated goal is to gene-edit embryos to prevent inherited disease. Tie is very tall, with perfect skin and a poker face. Sometimes she stonewalls; sometimes she's very direct. She is slightly pigeon-toed."I'm going to change into my gown so I get used to it," she told me. "You can meet me in my dressing room.""

"The room had a sign on the door that read "Cathy Tie." Inside was an upright piano and the videographer, who shot music videos for the Weeknd. A caped, sequined Jenny Packham ensemble lay on the couch. "Is this your dress?" I asked. "Gown," Tie corrected. Tie went into the bathroom to change. Kate Middleton wore the same gown to a James Bond premiere. Tie's gown was Champagne pink instead of gold. Tie wasn't nervous, just tired, she said. Her last year had been a lot."

Read at Intelligencer