Zhang lab @ MIT & Broad

Biological Discovery & Engineering

Image credit to Allison Colorado (2024)

We explore and study biological diversity to understand nature and discover systems and processes that may be harnessed through bioengineering for the improvement of human well-being.

Recent Highlights

Phage-triggered reverse transcription assembles a toxic repetitive gene from a noncoding RNA

August 29, 2024

Wilkinson et al. discover and determine the mechanism of a reverse-transcriptase defense system that flips the central dogma by encoding a gene in RNA. Read more in Science.

Rational engineering of minimally immunogenic nucleases for gene therapy

January 2, 2025

Raghavan, Friedrich, et al. design and test reduced immunogenicity (Redi) variants of SaCas9 and AsCas12. Read more in Nature Communications.

Reprogrammable RNA-targeting CRISPR systems evolved from RNA toxin-antitoxins

February 18, 2025

Zilberzwige-Tal, Altae-Tran, et al. trace the evolutionary origins of Cas13 to AbiF, a toxin with a non-coding RNA anti-toxin. Read more in Cell.