Feng Zhang

In July, UCLA and UCSF scientists made an exciting proclamation: Gene editing could potentially be used as a much more efficient form of cancer immunotherapy. The technology at the heart of that discovery is what’s known as Crispr, and Zhang is one of the scientists who pioneered its use in human cells, sparking a flurry of interest in using Crispr to tackle everything from inherited diseases to cancer. Earlier this year, Zhang and colleagues helped launch a new Crispr-focused startup, Beam Therapeutics, with $87 million in funding.