Fyodor D. Urnov, PhD

“We must, and we can, build a world with CRISPR for all.”

Two decades ago Dr. Fyodor Urnov co-named human genome editing and showed it can be used to repair human disease-causing mutations. Now as Professor of Molecular Therapeutics and the University of California, Berkeley, and the Director for the CRISPR Cures Beacon at its Innovative Genomics Institute, Dr. Urnov is both a prominent voice for the ethical and just use of genome editing in medicine and a leader of efforts to develop and deliver CRISPR cures to those in most need.

Supercharged by the 2012 Nobel-Prize-winning discovery of CRISPR made by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, genome editing began two decades prior in fundamental research studies.

In 2005, Dr. Urnov and a team of colleagues in a biotechnology company both demonstrated that first-generation gene editors can repair mutations in human cells and named the technology. The landmark Urnov et al paper in Nature introduced the term “genome editing” and is widely considered to describe the discovery that became the “starter pistol shot” to develop this technology into a medicine.

Over the next decade Dr. Urnov led a collaborative effort towards this goal; with 50 published research papers and 80 issued US patents to his name from that time period, his body of work is recognized as as having provided a key foundation for the Age of CRISPR.

In 2013 Dr. Urnov’s team discovered a specific genetic element in human cells, the editing of which could provide a cure for sickle cell disease. In 2023, this discovery has become a key stepping stone on the path to the first-ever approved CRISPR gene editing medicine for SCD. At the invitation of the FDA, and in recognition of his long-standing leadership in the field, Dr. Urnov gave the opening presentation at the FDA hearing where the application to approve this medicine was reviewed.

Dr. Urnov joined the Innovative Genomics Institute at UC Berkeley founded by Jennifer Doudna to reduce to practice her extraordinary vision of “making CRISPR the standard of medical care while ensuring the benefits of CRISPR are available to all.” As enunciated in Dr. Urnov’s New York Times op-ed in December of 2022, an unacceptable gap exists between the research laboratory, where the power of CRISPR is on full display, and the clinical setting, where only a tiny fraction of patients who could benefit from gene editing – are projected to do so in the next decade.

Dr. Urnov leads a multipronged effort to develop CRISPR gene editing into a platform technology one where many patients could benefit scalably and affordably. As a Director of a unique private-public parternship, the CRISPR Cures Beacon, Dr. Urnov leads two large multidisplinary teams of scientists and physicians to develop and provide CRISPR medicines to one of the most underserved patient populations: those affected with so-called “N=rare” genetic diseases.

Dr. Urnov is a leading public voice on the ethical use of CRISPR. His 2015 piece in Nature entitled “Do Not Edit the Human Germline” became a rallying call to prevent the abuse of editing for unethical purposes. An extended recent article in The New Yorker (“The Transformative, Alarming Power of Genome Editing”) features Dr. Urnov as a key subject matter expert.

More broadly, Dr. Urnov’s perspectives on the appropriate development and use of CRISPR genome editing are often quoted in tier 1 US and international media including NPR, USA Today, Wired, Scientific American, STAT News,  and The New York Times.

Dr. Urnov is widely recognized as an outstanding public speaker and science communicator – a skill honed over a 30 year career as a professor of biology that started at Brown University, where he won a Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence, and continues at UC Berkeley.