Feng Zhang Explained

Feng Zhang
Birth Date:22 October 1981
Birth Place:Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China
Nationality:American
Fields:Neuroscience, Bioengineering
Workplaces:MIT, Broad Institute
Education:
Thesis Title:Circuit-breakers: optical technologies for probing neural signals and systems
Thesis Year:2009
Doctoral Advisor:Karl Deisseroth
Academic Advisors:Paola Arlotta, George Church
Doctoral Students:Silvana Konermann
Known For:Optogenetics, CRISPR
Awards:

Feng Zhang (; 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.

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]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Meet one of the world's most groundbreaking scientists. He's 34. . Begley . Sharon . November 6, 2015 . . January 27, 2017.
  2. Web site: Zhuang Research Lab . Harvard University. January 27, 2017.
  3. Boyden. Edward S. Zhang, Feng . Bamberg, Ernst . Nagel, Georg . Deisseroth, Karl . Millisecond-timescale, genetically targeted optical control of neural activity. Nature Neuroscience. August 14, 2005. 8. 9. 1263–1268. 10.1038/nn1525 . 16116447. 6809511.
  4. 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. Multimodal fast optical interrogation of neural circuitry. Nature. April 5, 2007. 446. 7136. 633–639. 10.1038/nature05744. 17410168. 2007Natur.446..633Z . 4415339 .
  5. Web site: Feng Zhang, Investigator . . January 27, 2017.
  6. Zhang . Feng . Cong . Le . Lodato . Simona . Kosuri . Sriram . Church . George . Arlotta . Paola . Efficient construction of sequence-specific TAL effectors for modulating mammalian transcription . . January 19, 2011 . 29 . 2 . 149–153 . 10.1038/nbt.1775 . 21248753 . 3084533.
  7. Zhang F, Gradinaru V, Adamantidis AR, Durand R, Airan RD, de Lecea L, Deisseroth K . Optogenetic interrogation of neural circuits: technology for probing mammalian brain structures . Nature Protocols . 5 . 3 . 439–56 . 2010 . 20203662 . 4503465 . 10.1038/nprot.2009.226 .
  8. Zhang. Feng. Tsai. Hsing-Chen. Airan. Raag D.. Stuber. Garret D.. Adamantidis. Antoine R.. de Lecea. Luis. Bonci. Antonello. Deisseroth. Karl. Optogenetics in Freely Moving Mammals: Dopamine and Reward. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. 2015. 8. 2015. 715–24. 1940-3402. 10.1101/pdb.top086330. 26240415.
  9. Method of the Year 2010. Nature Methods. 8. 1. 2010. 1. 1548-7091. 10.1038/nmeth.f.321. free.
  10. Garneau . Josiane E.. Dupuis . Marie-Ève . Villion . Manuela . Romero . Dennis A. . Barrangou . Rodolphe . Boyaval . Patrick . Fremaux . Christophe . Horvath . Philippe . Magadán . Alfonso H. . Moineau . Sylvain . The CRISPR/Cas bacterial immune system cleaves bacteriophage and plasmid DNA . . November 4, 2010 . 468 . 7320 . 67–71 . 10.1038/nature09523 . 21048762. 2010Natur.468...67G. 20.500.11794/38818 . 205222849. free .
  11. Web site: Project Spotlight: CRISPR. December 17, 2014. October 29, 2015.
  12. 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.. Multiplex Genome Engineering Using CRISPR/Cas Systems. Science. January 3, 2013. 339. 6121. 819–823. 10.1126/science.1231143. 23287718. 3795411. 2013Sci...339..819C.
  13. 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. DNA targeting specificity of RNA-guided Cas9 nucleases. Nature Biotechnology. July 21, 2013. 31. 9. 827–832. 10.1038/nbt.2647. 23873081. 3969858.
  14. Jinek. M.. Chylinski. K.. Fonfara. I.. Hauer. M.. Doudna. J. A.. Charpentier. E.. A Programmable Dual-RNA-Guided DNA Endonuclease in Adaptive Bacterial Immunity. Science. June 28, 2012. 337. 6096. 816–821. 10.1126/science.1225829. 22745249. 6286148. 2012Sci...337..816J.
  15. 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. . Multiplex Genome Engineering Using CRISPR/Cas Systems . . January 3, 2013 . 339 . 6121 . 819–823 . 10.1126/science.1231143 . 23287718 . 3795411. 2013Sci...339..819C .
  16. 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 . DNA targeting specificity of RNA-guided Cas9 nucleases . . July 21, 2013 . 31 . 9 . 827–832 . 10.1038/nbt.2647 . 23873081 . 3969858.
  17. Book: Isaacson, Walter. The Code Breaker. Simon & Schuster. 2021. 978-1-9821-1585-2. 209. Walter Isaacson.
  18. Web site: Arbor Biotechnologies comes out of stealth with new CRISPR enzyme. March 15, 2018. May 16, 2021. FierceBiotech. en.
  19. 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.. Pardis Sabeti. Collins. James J.. Zhang. Feng. Nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas13a/C2c2. Science. 356. 6336. 2017. 438–442. 0036-8075. 10.1126/science.aam9321. 28408723. 5526198. 2017Sci...356..438G.
  20. Web site: Sherlock Biosciences Inc. May 16, 2021. www.bloomberg.com.
  21. Web site: Hale . Conor . Feng Zhang quietly starting new CRISPR-based company: report . FierceBiotech . April 30, 2018 . December 13, 2021.
  22. Book: Isaacson, Walter. The Code Breaker. Simon & Schuster. 2021. 978-1-9821-1585-2. 462. Walter Isaacson.
  23. Web site: Feng Zhang . . 13 December 2022.
  24. Web site: Genomic research may finally help dispel the ignorance shrouding many types of mental illness. . Rotman . David . 2013 . . January 27, 2017.
  25. Web site: Stanford and MIT scientists win Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize . . January 27, 2017 . Development and Application of Optogenetics for Studying Neural Circuit Functions . https://web.archive.org/web/20170826032629/http://www.med.unc.edu/neuroscience/about-us/news/center-news/4-30-12-stanford-and-mit-scientists-win-perl-unc-neuroscience-prize . August 26, 2017 . dead .
  26. Web site: Alan T. Waterman Award Recipients . . January 27, 2017 . For development and application of molecular technologies that enable systematic interrogation of intact biological systems through precise genomic manipulation. . https://web.archive.org/web/20150302020546/http://www.nsf.gov/od/waterman/waterman_recipients.jsp#2014 . March 2, 2015 . dead .
  27. Web site: Past Winners Gabbay Award Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center . . January 27, 2017.
  28. Web site: Feng Zhang, Diana Bautista Receive Young Investigator Award . . January 27, 2017.
  29. 2014-10-01 . Program and Abstracts of the 12th Transgenic Technology Meeting (TT2014): The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, 6–8 October 2014 . Transgenic Research . en . 23 . 5 . 827–909 . 10.1007/s11248-014-9820-1 . 255104172 . 0962-8819.
  30. Web site: Tsuneko & Reiji Okazaki Award – Feng Zhang . Nagoya University.
  31. Web site: Canada Gairdner International Award . https://web.archive.org/web/20160329103111/http://www.gairdner.org/recipients/current . March 29, 2016 . dead .
  32. Web site: 2016 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science . January 27, 2017 . for the development of CRISPR/Cas9 as a breakthrough genome editing platform that promises to revolutionize biomedical research and disease treatment.
  33. Web site: Albany Medical Center Prize 2017. December 13, 2021.
  34. Web site: Lemelson-MIT Prize 2017. December 13, 2021. October 11, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181011181346/http://lemelson.mit.edu/winners/feng-zhang. dead.
  35. https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2019/10/technion-to-award-harvey-prize/ Harvey Prize 2018
  36. Web site: Golden Plate Awardees . Academy of Achievement . November 30, 2021 . December 13, 2021.
  37. Web site: Carter, Jane. Four MIT Scientists Honored with 2021 National Academy of Science Awards. MIT News (chemistry.mit.edu). January 21, 2021.
  38. Web site: Feng Zhang . American Academy of Arts & Sciences . December 4, 2021 . December 13, 2021.
  39. Web site: May 1, 2018 NAS Election . National Academy of Sciences . May 1, 2018 . December 13, 2021.
  40. Web site: Six with MIT ties elected to the National Academy of Medicine for 2021. January 5, 2022. MIT News Massachusetts Institute of Technology. October 20, 2021 . en.

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