Listen to Dr. Feng Zhang who was first to adapt CRISPR-Cas9 for genome editing on eukaryotic cells explain CRISPR:

Video: Questions And Answers About CRISPR

Today Dr. Zhang leverages CRISPR and other methodologies to study the role of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying diseases, specifically focusing on disorders of the nervous system. He is especially interested in complex disorders, such as psychiatric and neurological diseases, that are caused by multiple genetic and environmental risk factors and which are difficult to model using conventional methods. His lab is focused on developing novel tools to better understand and treat neuropsychiatric diseases and applying these novel tools to interrogate gene function in animal and stem cell models.  Zhang’s methods are also being used in the fields of immunology, clinical medicine, cancer biology, and other areas of research. Zhang’s long-term goal is to develop novel therapeutic strategies for disease treatment.

Dr. Zhang is the James and Patricia Poitras Professor 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 (MIT). He also has appointment with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.