Simple explanation
Feng Zhang's laboratory was among the first to show, in January 2013, that CRISPR actually works inside human cells — a different and much harder problem than working in a test tube. He has also found and characterised several other CRISPR systems since, including one that targets RNA instead of DNA.
Go deeper
Feng Zhang is the James and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience at MIT and a core member of the Broad Institute. Previously a developer of optogenetics and TALEN methods, his laboratory published multiplex genome engineering in mammalian cells using CRISPR-Cas systems in January 2013. He has since characterised Cas12a (Cpf1), Cas13 and other systems, and co-founded Editas Medicine, Beam Therapeutics, Arbor Biotechnologies and Sherlock Biosciences.
On the patent dispute
The Broad Institute, where Zhang works, and the University of California have contested patent rights over CRISPR editing in eukaryotic cells for over a decade, with US decisions at points favouring the Broad. The dispute concerns who is entitled to patent claims — a legal question — and is distinct from scientific attribution. This site records the dispute and does not adjudicate it.
Sources
- Science (Cong et al.) · 2013
Multiplex genome engineering using CRISPR/Cas systems ↗