In honor of Dr. Yi Zhang
For Dr. Yi Zhang’s research, genes are everything.
“How genes are expressed is at the heart of every biological phenomenon and every disease process,” he says. “That’s why I’m interested in it.”
All human cells have the same DNA. Yet, these cells can look drastically different and do very different things. That’s because the DNA is expressed in different ways.
So far, Dr. Zhang’s lab has discovered and characterized many of the proteins that control the structure of how DNA is packaged inside cells. And understanding these proteins and gene expressions is critical in creating new cancer treatments. His work has earned him the world ranking of 7th in the number of high-impact citations in research papers on molecular biology and genetics.
But at the top of his list of goals is treating cancer patients.
“I want to translate whatever we learn in the lab into something useful for patients because, regarding the science we do, one goal is to satisfy our own curiosity,” he says. “The other is far more important—to serve people, to use what we discover to help society. And that’s why I’ve always been interested in biology; it has the most direct link with our lives.”