Beam Therapeutics was developed by David R. Liu, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard. He developed a suite of DNA-based editing technologies that enable precise genetic modifications without making double-stranded breaks in DNA. This innovation allows for more accurate and efficient gene editing. The foundational research was supported by federal funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Editas Medicine builds on Harvard’s seminal contributions to the field of genome editing, including the development of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technologies. The company licensed technology developed by Harvard professors Dr. George Church and Dr. David Liu, along with researchers from partner institutions. Their findings made fundamental contributions to genome editing technologies, including CRISPR. These advancements opened new possibilities for developing gene-edited medicines to treat serious diseases.