Fyodor Urnov

Research Bio

Fyodor Urnov is a Professor of Molecular Therapeutics in the MCB Department and Director for Therapeutic R&D at its Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI). He co-developed the toolbox of human genome and epigenome editing, co-named genome editing, and was on the team that advanced all of its first-in-human applications to the clinic. A major goal for the field of genome editing and a key focus of Fyodor's work is expanding access to CRISPR therapies for genetic disease. As part of that effort Fyodor directs the Danaher-IGI Beacon for CRISPR Cures - a first-in-class academia-industry partnership developing and advancing to the clinic CRISPR-based platform approaches to treat severe Mendelian diseases of the immune system. In May 2025 a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine described the world’s first on-demand engineered CRISPR therapy for a newborn with a severe metabolic disorder; Fyodor was the IGI lead of this 4-way collaboration between CHOP, Penn Medicine, Danaher, and the IGI that reduced key components of “CRISPR as a platform” approach to clinical practice. Fyodor also directs the newly established CZI-IGI Center for Pediatric CRISPR Cures that aims to expand the “CRISPR on-demand” approach exemplified in that effort to multiple additional pediatric patients with severe genetic diseases.

Research Expertise and Interest

CRISPR gene editing for clinical applications

In the News

Campus lab takes COVID-19 testing to utility workers, underserved

A month after opening, a COVID-19 testing lab at the University of California, Berkeley, has branched out from evaluating symptomatic students to assessing a broader range of people potentially exposed to the new coronavirus, including residents of local nursing homes, the East Bay’s homeless population, front-line firefighters and police officers and, now, utility workers around the state.

UC Berkeley scientists spin up a robotic COVID-19 testing lab

As doctors around the country scramble to diagnose cases of COVID-19, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley’s Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) are creating from scratch a diagnostic lab with the capability to process more than 1,000 patient samples per day.

Featured in the Media

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positions of UC Berkeley.
December 8, 2025

The Rarest of All Diseases Are Becoming Treatable

The Atlantic
Nancy walecki

“We have been moving in the direction of thinking about CRISPR as a platform for some years,” said Jennifer Doudna, a professor, Nobel laureate and founder of the Innovative Genomics Institute. The article also quotes Fyodor Urnov, a scientific director of the institute.

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June 3, 2025

Baby KJ’s Bespoke Gene Therapy Is a Masterclass in Scientific Collaboration

TheScientist
Rebecca Roberts, PhD

Scientists behind a world-first gene therapy — including Professor of Molecular Therapeutics Fyodor Urnov — reveal how they teamed up with experts across academia and industry to produce a drug from start to finish in just six months.

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May 15, 2025

Baby Is Healed With World’s First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment

The New York Times
Gina Kolata

Fyodor Urnov is part of the team that worked on a novel, on-demand CRISPR theray to treat a newborn boy diagnosed at birth with a rare and potentially fatal genetic disease. 

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February 2, 2024

The FDA Approved The First CRISPR-Based Therapy. What’s Next?

Science Friday

Fyodor Urnov, professor of molecular and cell biology and scientific director of technology and translation at the Innovative Genomics Institute, discusses the future of CRISPR-based cures.

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January 9, 2024

Doudna institute hatches plan to ‘cure hundreds of diseases’ left behind by CRISPR revolution

STAT
Jason Mast

Nobel laureate and Professor Jennifer Doudna will oversee the new center’s work alongside Fyodor Urnov, Doudna’s fellow Berkeley professor.

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July 13, 2020

The Inside Story of how California Failed Mass Coronavirus Testing

Los Angeles Times
Emily Baumgaertner
In the first weeks of the pandemic, as a shortage of testing kits, narrow testing criteria, and spotty contact tracing impacted California's ability to react to COVID-19, the virus continued to spread with lightning rapidity. Meanwhile, at UC Berkeley, molecular biologist Fyodor Urnov formed what he called "SEAL Team Six:" hand-selected scientists, physicians and students who had constructed a volunteer lab in a matter of weeks to help relieve diagnostic lab Quest's backlog. They "moved heaven and earth" to get government certifications and create a highly automated lab that could run as many as 1,000 patient samples a day, he said. But when Urnov told nearby hospitals he could provide free testing and results in 48 hours, the hospitals declined, saying their electronic records systems were still entangled at Quest and LabCorp. The volunteers were stunned. "We said, 'What? Are you kidding me?' They have a direct link to a testing provider that has failed," Urnov said. "There's institutional inertia."
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September 27, 2019

OneZero: The Defense Department Plans to Build Radiation-proof CRISPR Soldiers

Medium
Emily Mullin
Molecular and cell biology professor Fyodor Urnov will be co-leading a research project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to use CRISPR gene-editing technology in the development of a temporary, reversible radiation countermeasure for toxic radiation exposure. The researchers will use a modified version of CRISPR to turn genes on and off to boost proteins that protect against radiation while subduing harmful ones, without permanently changing the DNA code. It would take the form of a pill or injection, and would be used with soldiers, first responders, and civilians who need to enter areas with dangerous radiation levels. "This is like giving people a molecular coat of armor," Professor Urnov says.
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