Who: Dr. Stanley Qi, who publishes research as Lei S. Qi, is a pioneer in genome engineering and the architect of the foundational technologies that turned CRISPR from a “cutting” tool into a universal platform for programmable gene regulation. As the inventor of CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and CRISPR activation (CRISPRa), Qi developed the first methods for the precise, reversible, and targeted regulation of the human genome, making it possible to turn specific genes down or up without changing their DNA sequence.
Under Qi’s leadership, the Qi Lab at Stanford University has expanded the genome-engineering toolbox, evolving CRISPR from a single editing tool into a multidimensional platform for precisely controlling how cells behave over time and in space. The goal is to work out the general rules connecting the tiny molecular instructions inside cells to the way the body functions as a whole, and then to translate this foundational engineering into next-generation therapies.
Topic: Programmable medicine
Quote: “My hope is that epigenetic editing will let us restore healthy patterns of gene activity and help tissues resist disease before lasting damage occurs. To make that possible, we need to deliver these tools precisely and control how strongly and how long they act. The future I want is medicine that helps the body maintain its own health and is accessible to the people who need it.”
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