Chinese–American biochemist
Feng Zhang (
Chinese : 张锋 ;
pinyin : Zhāng Fēng ; born October 22, 1981) is a Chinese–American biochemist. Zhang currently holds the James and Patricia Poitras Professorship in Neuroscience at the
McGovern Institute for Brain Research and in the departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and
Biological Engineering at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology . He also has appointments with the
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (where he is a core member). He is most well known for his central role in the development of
optogenetics and
CRISPR technologies.
Early life and education
Zhang was born in China in 1981 and given the name 锋 (which means "point of a spear; edge of a tool; vanguard"). Both of his parents were computer programmers in China. At age 11, he moved to
Iowa with his mother (his father was not able to join them for several years).
[1] He attended
Theodore Roosevelt High School and Central Academy in
Des Moines , graduating in 2000. In 1999 he attended the acclaimed
Research Science Institute at MIT, and in 2000 he won 3rd place in the
Intel Science Talent Search . He earned his BA in chemistry and physics from
Harvard University in 2004 where he worked with
Xiaowei Zhuang .
[2] He then received his PhD in chemical and
biological engineering from
Stanford University in 2009 under the guidance of
Karl Deisseroth where he developed the technologies behind
optogenetics with
Edward Boyden .
[3]
[4] He served as an independent Junior Fellow in the
Harvard Society of Fellows .
[5]
[6]
Research
Zhang's lab is focused on using
synthetic biology to develop technologies for genome and epigenome engineering to study neurobiology. He is a leader in the field of
optogenetics ,
[7]
[8] which was named the 2010 "Method of the Year".
[9] As a postdoc, he began work on using TAL effectors to control gene transcription.
[6]
Based on previous work by the Sylvain Moineau Lab,
[10] Zhang began work to harness and optimize the CRISPR system to work in human cells in early 2011.
[11] While Zhang's group was optimizing the
Cas9 system in human cells, the collaborating groups of
Emmanuelle Charpentier and
Jennifer Doudna described a chimeric RNA design which is capable of facilitating cleavage of DNA using purified Cas9 protein and a synthetic guide. Zhang's group compared their RNA expression approach with a design based on the Doudna / Charpentier chimeric RNA for use in human cells and established features of the guide necessary for Cas9 to function effectively in mammalian cells
[12]
[13] which are dispensable in biochemical assays.
[14]
[15]
[16] Zhang, Doudna, and other colleagues from Harvard founded
Editas Medicine in September 2013 to develop and commercialize CRISPR-based therapies.
[17]
Zhang discovered
Cas13 with Harvard colleague
Eugene Koonin using
computational biology methods. In 2016, Zhang cofounded
Arbor Biotechnologies to develop Cas13 for therapeutic use.
[18]
His lab has also developed a sensitive diagnostic nucleic acid detection protocol that is based on CRISPR termed SHERLOCK (Specific High sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter UnLOCKing) that is able to detect and distinguish strains of viruses and bacteria present in as low as attomolar (10−18 M) concentration.
[19] Zhang cofounded
Sherlock Biosciences in 2018 to further develop this diagnostic technology.
[20]
Also in 2018, Zhang cofounded
Beam Therapeutics with Editas cofounder and Harvard colleague
David R. Liu to further advance Liu's work on base editing and
prime editing .
[21]
[22]
He has an
h-index of 109 according to
Google Scholar .
[23]
Honors
Zhang is a recipient of the
NIH Director's Pioneer Award and a 2012
Searle Scholar . He was named one of MIT Technology Reviews's
TR35
[24] in 2013. His work on optogenetics and CRISPR has been recognized by a number of awards, including: the 2011
Perl-UNC Prize (shared with Boyden and Deisseroth);
[25] the 2014
Alan T. Waterman Award , the
National Science Foundation 's highest honor that annually recognizes an outstanding researcher under the age of 35;
[26] the 2014
Gabbay Award (shared with
Jennifer Doudna and
Emmanuelle Charpentier );
[27] the 2014 Young Investigator Award from the
Society for Neuroscience (shared with
Diana Bautista ) as well as the ISTT Young Investigator Award from the
International Society for Transgenic Technologies .
[28]
[29] Zhang also received a New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Award in 2014, and was named the 2016 NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Prize Recipient. In 2015, Zhang became the inaugural recipient of
Tsuneko &
Reiji Okazaki Award (
Nagoya University )
[30] and in 2016, he was once again (for the 2nd and 3rd time) sharing honors with Doudna and Charpentier when receiving the
Gairdner Foundation International Award
[31] and the
Tang Prize .
[32] In 2017 he received the
Albany Medical Center Prize (jointly with Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer Doudna,
Luciano Marraffini , and
Francisco Mojica )
[33] and the
Lemelson-MIT Prize .
[34] In 2019 he received the
Harvey Prize of the Technion/Israel for the year 2018 (jointly with Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna).
[35] In 2019, Zhang received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement .
[36] In 2021 he received the
Richard Lounsbery Award .
[37]
In 2018, Zhang was elected as a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences ,
[38] and a member of the
National Academy of Sciences ,
[39]
National Academy of Medicine .
[40]
References
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"Meet one of the world's most groundbreaking scientists. He's 34" .
Stat . Retrieved January 27, 2017 .
^
"Zhuang Research Lab" .
Harvard University . Retrieved January 27, 2017 .
^ Boyden, Edward S; Zhang, Feng; Bamberg, Ernst; Nagel, Georg; Deisseroth, Karl (August 14, 2005). "Millisecond-timescale, genetically targeted optical control of neural activity". Nature Neuroscience . 8 (9): 1263–1268.
doi :
10.1038/nn1525 .
PMID
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S2CID
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^ Zhang, Feng; Wang, Li-Ping; Brauner, Martin; Liewald, Jana F.; Kay, Kenneth; Watzke, Natalie; Wood, Phillip G.; Bamberg, Ernst; Nagel, Georg; Gottschalk, Alexander; Deisseroth, Karl (April 5, 2007). "Multimodal fast optical interrogation of neural circuitry". Nature . 446 (7136): 633–639.
Bibcode :
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S2CID
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^
"Feng Zhang, Investigator" .
McGovern Institute for Brain Research . Retrieved January 27, 2017 .
^
a
b Zhang, Feng; Cong, Le; Lodato, Simona; Kosuri, Sriram; Church, George; Arlotta, Paola (January 19, 2011).
"Efficient construction of sequence-specific TAL effectors for modulating mammalian transcription" .
Nature Biotechnology . 29 (2): 149–153.
doi :
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PMC
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^ Zhang F, Gradinaru V, Adamantidis AR, Durand R, Airan RD, de Lecea L, Deisseroth K (2010).
"Optogenetic interrogation of neural circuits: technology for probing mammalian brain structures" . Nature Protocols . 5 (3): 439–56.
doi :
10.1038/nprot.2009.226 .
PMC
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PMID
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^ Zhang, Feng; Tsai, Hsing-Chen; Airan, Raag D.; Stuber, Garret D.; Adamantidis, Antoine R.; de Lecea, Luis; Bonci, Antonello; Deisseroth, Karl (2015). "Optogenetics in Freely Moving Mammals: Dopamine and Reward". Cold Spring Harbor Protocols . 2015 (8): 715–24.
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ISSN
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^
"Method of the Year 2010" . Nature Methods . 8 (1): 1. 2010.
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ISSN
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^ Garneau, Josiane E.; Dupuis, Marie-Ève; Villion, Manuela; Romero, Dennis A.; Barrangou, Rodolphe; Boyaval, Patrick; Fremaux, Christophe; Horvath, Philippe; Magadán, Alfonso H.; Moineau, Sylvain (November 4, 2010). "The CRISPR/Cas bacterial immune system cleaves bacteriophage and plasmid DNA".
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doi :
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^
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^ Cong, L.; Ran, F. A.; Cox, D.; Lin, S.; Barretto, R.; Habib, N.; Hsu, P. D.; Wu, X.; Jiang, W.; Marraffini, L. A.; Zhang, F. (January 3, 2013).
"Multiplex Genome Engineering Using CRISPR/Cas Systems" . Science . 339 (6121): 819–823.
Bibcode :
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doi :
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PMC
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PMID
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^ Hsu, Patrick D; Scott, David A; Weinstein, Joshua A; Ran, F Ann; Konermann, Silvana; Agarwala, Vineeta; Li, Yinqing; Fine, Eli J; Wu, Xuebing; Shalem, Ophir; Cradick, Thomas J; Marraffini, Luciano A; Bao, Gang; Zhang, Feng (July 21, 2013).
"DNA targeting specificity of RNA-guided Cas9 nucleases" . Nature Biotechnology . 31 (9): 827–832.
doi :
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PMC
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PMID
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^ Jinek, M.; Chylinski, K.; Fonfara, I.; Hauer, M.; Doudna, J. A.; Charpentier, E. (June 28, 2012).
"A Programmable Dual-RNA-Guided DNA Endonuclease in Adaptive Bacterial Immunity" . Science . 337 (6096): 816–821.
Bibcode :
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^ Cong, L.; Ran, F. A.; Cox, D.; Lin, S.; Barretto, R.; Habib, N.; Hsu, P. D.; Wu, X.; Jiang, W.; Marraffini, L. A.; Zhang, F. (January 3, 2013).
"Multiplex Genome Engineering Using CRISPR/Cas Systems" .
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^ Hsu, Patrick D; Scott, David A; Weinstein, Joshua A; Ran, F Ann; Konermann, Silvana; Agarwala, Vineeta; Li, Yinqing; Fine, Eli J; Wu, Xuebing; Shalem, Ophir; Cradick, Thomas J; Marraffini, Luciano A; Bao, Gang; Zhang, Feng (July 21, 2013).
"DNA targeting specificity of RNA-guided Cas9 nucleases" .
Nature Biotechnology . 31 (9): 827–832.
doi :
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PMC
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PMID
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^
Isaacson, Walter (2021).
The Code Breaker .
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ISBN
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^
"Arbor Biotechnologies comes out of stealth with new CRISPR enzyme" . FierceBiotech . March 15, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2021 .
^ Gootenberg, Jonathan S.; Abudayyeh, Omar O.; Lee, Jeong Wook; Essletzbichler, Patrick; Dy, Aaron J.; Joung, Julia; Verdine, Vanessa; Donghia, Nina; Daringer, Nichole M.; Freije, Catherine A.; Myhrvold, Cameron; Bhattacharyya, Roby P.; Livny, Jonathan; Regev, Aviv; Koonin, Eugene V.; Hung, Deborah T.;
Sabeti, Pardis C. ; Collins, James J.; Zhang, Feng (2017).
"Nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas13a/C2c2" . Science . 356 (6336): 438–442.
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ISSN
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^
"Sherlock Biosciences Inc" . www.bloomberg.com . Retrieved May 16, 2021 .
^ Hale, Conor (April 30, 2018).
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^
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ISBN
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^
"Feng Zhang" .
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^ Rotman, David (2013).
"Genomic research may finally help dispel the ignorance shrouding many types of mental illness" .
MIT Technology Review . Retrieved January 27, 2017 .
^
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the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017 . Development and Application of Optogenetics for Studying Neural Circuit Functions
^
"Alan T. Waterman Award Recipients" .
NSF . Archived from
the original on March 2, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2017 . For development and application of molecular technologies that enable systematic interrogation of intact biological systems through precise genomic manipulation.
^
"Past Winners | Gabbay Award | Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center" .
Brandeis University . Retrieved January 27, 2017 .
^
"Feng Zhang, Diana Bautista Receive Young Investigator Award" .
SfN . Retrieved January 27, 2017 .
^
"Program and Abstracts of the 12th Transgenic Technology Meeting (TT2014): The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, 6–8 October 2014" . Transgenic Research . 23 (5): 827–909. October 1, 2014.
doi :
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ISSN
0962-8819 .
S2CID
255104172 .
^
"Tsuneko & Reiji Okazaki Award – Feng Zhang" .
Nagoya University .
^
"Canada Gairdner International Award" . Archived from
the original on March 29, 2016.
^
"2016 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science" . Retrieved January 27, 2017 . for the development of CRISPR/Cas9 as a breakthrough genome editing platform that promises to revolutionize biomedical research and disease treatment
^
"Albany Medical Center Prize 2017" . Retrieved December 13, 2021 .
^
"Lemelson-MIT Prize 2017" . Archived from
the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2021 .
^
Harvey Prize 2018
^
"Golden Plate Awardees" . Academy of Achievement . November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021 .
^ Carter, Jane (January 21, 2021).
"Four MIT Scientists Honored with 2021 National Academy of Science Awards" . MIT News (chemistry.mit.edu) .
^
"Feng Zhang" . American Academy of Arts & Sciences . December 4, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021 .
^
"May 1, 2018 NAS Election" . National Academy of Sciences . May 1, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2021 .
^
"Six with MIT ties elected to the National Academy of Medicine for 2021" . MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology . October 20, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022 .
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