Tinkering with Nature’s Tools: The CRISPR Pioneer Feng Zhang

http://www.iBiology.org

What makes CRISPR -Cas9 such a groundbreaking genome editing tool? Hear from CRISPR-Cas9 pioneer Feng Zhang,  Ph.D., who shares not only what makes the tool so unique and how it works but also his personal journey into #science, which began with the film Jurassic Park. Zhang, who engineered the CRISPR-Cas9 system to work in human cells, is now using the tool to understand and treat human diseases, such as neurological disorders. In this short film, he compares CRISPR-Cas9 to past available genome-editing tools, including zinc finger and transcription activator-like effector (TALE) nucleases. 

Speaker Biography: 
Feng Zhang, Ph.D., is a core institute member of the @BroadInstitute of MIT and Harvard, as well as an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, the James and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, and a professor at MIT. Zhang is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Visit his lab website: https://zlab.bio.

Zhang is a molecular biologist developing and applying novel molecular technologies for studying the brain. He pioneered the development of genome editing tools for use in eukaryotic cells – including human cells – from natural microbial CRISPR-Cas9 systems. He and his team have adapted multiple other CRISPR systems for use as genome engineering tools, including RNA-targeting CRISPR-Cas13 systems and CRISPR-associated transposon systems, which can be used for gene insertion.

Producers: Shannon Behrman, Meredith DeSalazar, Sarah Goodwin, Regina Sobel
Cinematographers: Derek Reich, Amanda McGrady
Interview by: Adam Bolt 
Editor: Lee Rossoff  
Graphics: Chris George, Maggie Hubbard
Associate Producer: Shelley Elizabeth Carter
Executive Producers: Shannon Behrman, Sarah Goodwin, Elliot Kirschner

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