Feng Zhang

Feng Zhang adapted CRISPR technology for targeted epigenetic editing using catalytically dead Cas9 (dCas9) fused to DNA methyltransferases and histone modifiers, enabling precise writing and erasure of epigenetic memory at specific genomic loci in cancer cells to reactivate silenced tumor suppressors or silence activated oncogenes. His development of CRISPRoff demonstrated stable epigenetic gene silencing that persists through cell division as heritable epigenetic memory without permanently altering the DNA sequence. His epigenome editing tools have enabled functional dissection of individual epigenetic marks and their contribution to cancer cell epigenetic memory.