McGovern Investigator recognized for inventing transformative technologies to improve human health.
Fifteen innovation pioneers, including McGovern Investigator Feng Zhang, have been inducted into the 2026 class of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Zhang is being recognized for his innovations in gene editing and for sharing his resources and expertise broadly with the global scientific community.
In addition to his appointment at the McGovern Institute, Zhang is the James and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience at MIT and has joint appointments in the departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering. He is also an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, an investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and co-director of the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Center for Molecular Therapeutics at MIT.
“The National Inventors Hall of Fame is committed to illuminating the legacies of world-changing inventors and creating opportunities for the next generation to learn from these innovative role models,” said Monica Jones, Chief Executive Officer of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. “The inventors in our 2026 class have made contributions in fields as varied as semiconductor technology and portable inhalers. Induction into the Hall of Fame honors the significance of these advances, which have enhanced our daily lives and well-being.”
Zhang has invented transformative technologies to improve human health, including first demonstrating the use of engineered CRISPR-Cas9 systems for genome editing in human cells. He has co-founded several companies to commercialize these technologies. Through the nonprofit repository Addgene, by 2023 over 75,000 samples of Zhang’s reagents had been shared with researchers in more than 79 countries. He also has trained scientists from around the world in online research forums, in his workshops and in his lab.
“My mother would always emphasize that I should choose to do something useful for the world; to live a life that is meaningful and is adding something to the world, rather than just consuming from the world,” Zhang says. “That has been one of the strongest guiding factors for me.”
In partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Hall of Fame will honor the 2026 inductees on May 7 at an event in Washington DC.
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