14 Facts About Feng Zhang

Feng Zhang is a Chinese-born American biochemist.

Feng Zhang has appointments with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Feng Zhang is most well known for his central role in the development of optogenetics and CRISPR technologies.

Feng Zhang attended Theodore Roosevelt High School and Central Academy in Des Moines, graduating in 2000.

Feng Zhang 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.

Feng Zhang served as an independent Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows.

Feng Zhang's lab is focused on using synthetic biology to develop technologies for genome and epigenome engineering to study neurobiology.

Feng Zhang is a leader in the field of optogenetics, which was named the 2010 "Method of the Year".

Feng Zhang discovered Cas13 with Harvard colleague Eugene Koonin using computational biology methods.

Feng Zhang's lab has developed a sensitive diagnostic nucleic acid detection protocol that is based on CRISPR termed SHERLOCK that is able to detect and distinguish strains of viruses and bacteria present in as low as attomolar concentration.

Feng Zhang cofounded Sherlock Biosciences in 2018 to further develop this diagnostic technology.

Feng Zhang is a recipient of the NIH Director's Pioneer Award and a 2012 Searle Scholar.

Feng Zhang was named one of MIT Technology Reviews's TR35 in 2013.

In 2018, Feng Zhang was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine.