Author

Zehan Zhou

Innovative Genomics Institute

Listed by name: these papers carry no ORCID for this author, so different people with the same name may be mixed together.

Biology Disciplines

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Biochemistry· 1 Bioengineering· 1 Molecular Biology· 1 Synthetic Biology· 1

Signature Assays, Organisms & Methods

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Approach:experimental assay· 3 Organism:human· 2 Organism:plant (other)· 2 Approach:statistical model· 2 Organism:Arabidopsis· 1 Organism:bacteria (other)· 1 Approach:biophysical modeling· 1 Research Focus:chromatin & epigenetic regulation· 1

Frequent Co-Authors

Jennifer A. DoudnaiD· 4 shared Conner J. LangebergiD· 3 shared Honglue ShiiD· 3 shared Kamakshi VohraiD· 3 shared Peter H. YooniD· 3 shared Evan C. DeTurkiD· 2 shared Isabel Esain-GarciaiD· 2 shared Kenneth J. LoiiD· 2 shared

Activity by Year

2026-2026 · peak 4/yr

Co-Author Collaboration Network

10 top collaborators · 43 mutual co-author links

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4 shared papersBiochemistry

Jennifer A. DoudnaORCID

Mutual co-authors in cluster

Author profile →

4 papers

Recent·Most cited

Stepwise DNA unwinding gates TnpB genome-editing activity

Zehan Zhou, Iren Saffarian-Deemyad, Honglue Shi, Trevor Weiss, Muhammad Moez ur-Rehman, Kamakshi Vohra, Petr Skopintsev, Peter H. Yoon, Marena I. Trinidad, Conner J. Langeberg, Maris Kamalu, Jasmine Amerasekera, Yuxing Zhou, Erin E. Doherty, Kevin Aris, , Jennifer A. Doudna

Ymu1 TnpB unwinds DNA via a long-lived partially unwound intermediate before a rarely stable open state; the WFR triple variant stabilizes both, boosting plant editing.

Molecular Cell · Aug 1, 2026Peer-reviewedBiochemistry✦ In-depth digest

Structure and evolution-guided design of minimal RNA-guided nucleases

Petr Skopintsev, Isabel Esain-Garcia, Evan C. DeTurk, Peter H. Yoon, Zehan Zhou, Trevor J. Weiss, Maris Kamalu, Ajit Chamraj, Kenneth J. Loi, Conner J. Langeberg, Ron S. Boger, Hunter M. Nisonoff, Hannah Karp, Lin-Xing Chen, Honglue Shi, , Jennifer A. Doudna

The paper designs active RNA-guided nucleases using AI and structure-guided methods, validated by cryo-EM and functional testing across species.

Science · Jul 16, 2026Peer-reviewedSynthetic Biology

A Noncontiguous Code for RNA-Guided DNA Recognition Preceded CRISPR

Peter H. Yoon, Kenneth J. Loi, Zeyuan Terry Zhang, Trevor A. Docter, Santiago C. Lopez, Conner J. Langeberg, Muhammad Moez ur-Rehman, Kamakshi Vohra, Zehan Zhou, Honglue Shi, Ron S. Boger, Peter Y. Wang, Benjamin A. Adler, Stephen Graf Brohawn, Jennifer A. Doudna

The paper identifies VIPR systems, which use noncontiguous RNA codes for DNA recognition, suggesting an ancient origin of adaptive immunity through viral interactions.

bioRxiv · Jun 25, 2026 · PreprintMolecular Biology

Spligation enables programmable chimeric RNA generation in living cells

David Colognori, Kevin M. Wasko, Marena I. Trinidad, Zehan Zhou, Jennifer A. Doudna

This paper introduces spligation, a method using CRISPR-Csm complexes to generate chimeric RNA in living cells by enabling site-specific RNA cleavage and trans-ligation.

bioRxiv · Mar 6, 2026 · PreprintBioengineering