Skip to content
#gene editing Review Open access

Chinese geneticists across the Pacific: a century of scientific legacies in genetics and genomics

Aug 2026 · Journal of Translational Genetics and Genomics · 0 citations · 96 references

TL;DR

This historical review presents the breakthrough discoveries by prominent Chinese geneticists during the early pioneering generation, the molecular genetics era, the transition to human and medical genetics, and current progress in genetic and genomic medicine.

Abstract

Modern genetics began with the rediscovery of Mendelian inheritance in 1900. The discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953 laid the foundation of molecular genetics. The Human Genome Project from 1990 to 2003 provided a fundamental genetic blueprint of human biology, with a lasting and expanding impact on the development of numerous genomic, multi-omics, and gene-editing technologies for precision medicine. To highlight the contributions of Chinese geneticists with work and training experience across the Pacific, this historical review presents the breakthrough discoveries by prominent Chinese geneticists during the early pioneering generation (1920-1950), the molecular genetics era (1951-1990), the transition to human and medical genetics, and current progress in genetic and genomic medicine (1991-present). These world-renowned geneticists have made significant contributions to understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate biological processes, the etiology and pathogenesis of genetic diseases, and the development of novel genetic engineering and therapeutic approaches. They also played leading roles in various professional organizations, academic centers, and industry. Standing on the shoulders of these prominent Chinese geneticists, current and future generations of geneticists and researchers could have a broader vision and more deeply explore the frontiers of genetics.

Read PDF

Similar papers

#gene editing Review Sep 2026

Unlocking non-model organisms with CRISPR-Cas: A roadmap for sustainable biotechnology.

It is concluded that bridging the gap between foundational CRISPR research and its real-world applications is imperative and future efforts should focus on democratizing tools via open-source platforms, advancing delivery systems, and fostering sustainable innovation through synthetic biology integration to fully realize the transformative potential of genome editing in organisms beyond model organisms.

S. Sarsaiya, Archana Jain, Jishuang Chen et al. · 2 citations
#gene editing Review Open access Aug 2026

Overcoming Therapy Resistance in Ovarian Cancer: From Molecular Mechanisms to Emerging Therapeutic Strategies

This review summarizes emerging therapeutic strategies for EOC, their mechanisms of action, and their potential to overcome treatment resistance, and covers molecularly targeted therapies, immunotherapies, metabolic and epigenetic approaches, cellular and gene therapies, targeted drug-delivery systems, and locoregional and physical modalities.

Zofia Pietrasik, Mikołaj Kapała, Joanna Pietrasik et al. · 0 citations
#gene editing Review Open access Aug 2026

Environmental Risk Assessment and Confinement of Genetically Engineered Trees with an Emphasis on Vegetative Reproduction.

Genetic engineering (GE) and gene editing may endow traits to trees such as increased biomass and the production of novel biomaterials. Long-lived organisms such as trees might be subject to biotechnology-related risks that could be different than those of annual row crops. Those risks could be relevant to production in engineered plantations and beyond plantations to natural forests. Therefore, appropriate risk regulation is important to assure biosafety of commercialized engineered trees. In addition to gene flow via sexual reproduction, vegetative reproduction might play an additional role in environmental "exposure" risk relative to transgene dispersal in GE tree plantations. While vegetative reproduction is beneficial for preserving desired genetic traits during tree propagation, it may lead to proximal clonal spread in the field. Although the environmental risks associated with vegetative reproduction of GE trees are recognized in commercial forestry, there are few field-based environmental risk assessment (ERA) studies on dispersal risks of self-propagated GE trees. GE or gene editing of target genes involved in the vegetative propagation processes may be useful to mitigate environmental risks of clonal spread through vegetative reproduction. This review provides updates for recent field test results of GE and gene edited trees. Gene candidates related to vegetative reproduction including adventitious shooting (AS) and adventitious rooting (AR) are discussed herein as a means to mitigate unintended clonal spread from GE tree plantations.

Yongil Yang, C. N. Stewart · 0 citations
#gene editing Open access Aug 2026

Programmable RNA targeting with clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) effector Cas7-11 in zebrafish embryos and mammalian cells

Findings establish Cas7-11 as a precise and efficient RNA knockdown tool for functional studies in embryonic development and stem cell biology, providing a versatile alternative to DNA-based gene-editing approaches.

Huan Yan, Imtiaz Ul Hassan, Kai Yan et al. · 0 citations

Related blog posts

MIT News · Artificial Intelligence Aug 17, 2026

Q&A: Rethinking how innovation happens

In his latest book, Professor Eugene Fitzgerald examines the forces that turn breakthroughs into value — and why innovation resists simple formulas.