I am researching the consequence of heterozygous tumor suppressor losses in vivo by CRISPR/Cas9 mediated Allele-Specific Gene Editing.

During an internship experience at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, I first received scientific research training on protein ubiquitination and became fascinated with biology. This inspired me to research liver fibrosis and found that Gant61 ameliorates CCl4-induced liver fibrosis by inhibition of Hedgehog signaling activity. I then worked on a graduation project to understand honeybee hive collapse caused by the honeybee parasite, Lotmaria passim. I used CRISPR/Cas9 to identify genes necessary for parasite infection. After working in these different fields, I became excited about cancer research. Because cancer is a problem of ageing, it is becoming increasingly important that we find a cure. While it is one of the most feared diseases, I believe this is a promising time. Now in the Cancer Evolution lab, I am researching the consequence of heterozygous tumor suppressor losses in vivo by extending CRISPR/Cas9 technologies using Tuba-seq. Over 80% of mutations in tumors suppressors in human patients are heterozygous, while nearly all research focuses on homozygous losses. We need better models for these mutations.