Possible Rotation Projects:
- Developing precise gene editing technologies to enable mutation-agnosti, gene-agnostic, and disease-agnostic treatments.
- Investigating preventive and regenerative therapies through comprehensive exploration of genetic and cellular landscapes.
- Engineering delivery and host systems to overcome limitations in cargo capability and host immune response.
Training technologies used:
- Genome editing, biomolecular engineering, and chemical biology
- Postdoctoral fellow, Genome Editing and Therapeutics Science, Harvard University and Broad Institute, 2020-2025
- Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, 2014-2019
- M.S. in Biotechnology, Northwestern University, 2012-2014
- B.S. in Biology, Northeastern University, 2007-2011
Gao, X.D., Tu, L.-C., Mir, A., Rodriguez, T., Ding, Y., Leszyk, J., Dekker, J., Shaffer, S., Zhu, L., Wolfe, S., Sontheimer, E. (2018). C-BERST: defining subnuclear proteomic landscapes at genomic elements with dCas9–APEX2. Nat. Methods 15, 433-436.
Anzalone, A.V.*, Gao, X.D.*, Podracky, C.J.*, Nelson, A.T., Koblan, L.W., Raguram, A., Levy, J.M., Mercer, J.A.M., Liu, D.R. (2022). Programmable deletion, replacement, integration, and inversion of large DNA sequences with twin prime editing. Nat. Biotechnol. 40, 731-740. (*denotes co-first authors).
Doman, J.L. *, Pandey, S. *, Neugebauer, M.E., An, M., Davis, J.R., Randolph, P.B., McElroy, A., Gao, X.D., Raguram, A., Richter, M.F., et al. (2023). Phage-assisted evolution and protein engineering yield compact, efficient prime editors. Cell 186, 3983-4002.e26. 10.1016/j.cell.2023.07.039.
Pandey, S.*, Gao, X.D.*, Krasnow, N.A., McElroy, A., Tao, Y.A., Duby, J.E., Steinbeck, B.J., McCreary, J., Pierce, S.E., Tolar, J., et al. (2024). Efficient site-specific integration of large genes in mammalian cells via continuously evolved recombinases and prime editing. Nat. Biomed. Eng. 9, 22–39.
Fu, Y. *, He, X. *, Ma, L. *, Gao, X.D., Liu, P., Shi, H., Chai, P., Ge, S., Jia, R., Liu, D.R., et al. (2025). In vivo prime editing rescues photoreceptor degeneration in nonsense mutant retinitis pigmentosa. Nat. Commun. 16, 2394. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57628-6.
Gao, X.D.*, Presa, M.*, Duby, J.E., Ryan, J., Piec, P., Hsu, A., Banskota, S., Jiang, A.Y., Chen, L., Newby, G.A., et al. (2025). In vivo base editing rescues liver pathophysiology and peroxisome dysfunction in a mouse model of zellweger spectrum disorder. Nat. Biomed. Eng. (accepted in principle).
The Gao Lab is dedicated to uncovering fundamental biological mechanisms and translating these insights into transformative therapies that advance human health. We integrate biomolecular engineering, gene editing, chemical biology, and artificial intelligence to systematically explore and interpret the genetic and cellular information. By leveraging discoveries in basic and biomedical sciences, we aim to develop next-generation genomic medicine capable of overcoming current limitations in delivery, efficacy, and safety.
