Dr. Luhan Yang is Chief Executive Officer of Qihanbio, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of eGenesis. Dr. Yang is currently leading the two companies to make unremitting efforts for research and development of xenotransplantation. The two companies are revolutionizing the field of transplantation with an unparalleled, multiplexed gene editing platform for the development of human-compatible organs, tissues and cells. Dr. Yang leads a world class genome engineering team harnessing the latest gene-editing techniques with the capability to solve the global organ crisis by reinvigorating the field of xenotransplantation and offering the potential to expand the applicability of transplantation into other areas such as cell therapy. She previously developed the highly programmable genome-engineering tool, CRISPR-Cas9, for use in mammalian cells, and pioneered the first isogenic human stem cell lines to model human diseases at the tissue level. She was recently honored with Richard J. Herrnstein Prize by Harvard University (2014), “30 Under 30” in Science and Healthcare by Forbes Magazine (2014), in the Bloomberg 50 (2017), named “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum (2017) and was featured in  “30 Under 40” by Business Insider (2017). Dr. Yang holds B.S. degrees in Biology and Psychology from Peking University and a Ph.D. in Human Biology and Translational Medicine from Harvard Medical School.

Transform xenotransplantation into clinical reality using CRISPR-Cas genome editing technologies

Xenotransplantation is a promising strategy to alleviate the shortage of organs for human transplantation. The concerns of pig-to-human immunological compatibility and the risk of cross-species transmission of porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) have impeded the clinical application of this approach.  Using CRISPR-Cas9, we inactivated all the PERVs in a porcine primary cell line and generated PERV-inactivated pigs via somatic cell nuclear transfer. Our study highlights the value of PERV inactivation to prevent cross-species viral transmission and demonstrated the successful production of PERV-inactivated animals to address the safety concerns in clinical xenotransplantation.  Using our genome editing platform and upon the PERV-inactivation pig background, we are creating pigs with advanced immunological modifications to address immunological and functional compatibility issues.