The rockefeller university

Uncovering Nature’s Genetic Innovations

DONATE

SPEAKER

Li Zhao, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics
The Rockefeller University

HOST

Vanessa Ruta, Ph.D.

Gabrielle H. Reem and Herbert J. Kayden Professor
Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Behavior
The Rockefeller University
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Li Zhao, Ph.D., is an evolutionary geneticist whose research reveals how entirely new genes emerge from stretches of DNA that used to be “junk”. By combining computational biology, artificial intelligence, CRISPR-based genetic experiments, and comparative genomics in both fruit flies and humans, Dr. Zhao’s team has uncovered hundreds of potential de novo originated genes that arose at different time points in evolution. Many of these genes spread rapidly because they provide critical advantages, such as boosting fertility and strengthening immune defense.

Dr. Zhao’s work reshapes our understanding of genetic innovation—not simply tweaking existing genes but uncovering nature’s ability to create new ones from scratch. These discoveries offer promising insights into processes underlying human diseases such as cancer, and point toward potential transformative opportunities for future therapies.

Dr. Zhao earned her B.S. in Biology from Inner Mongolia University in 2006 and completed her Ph.D. in 2011 at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where she began studying novel gene origins. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at University of California, Davis, she was recruited to Rockefeller in 2017 to head the Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics. Dr. Zhao has received a Sloan Research Fellowship and an Irma T. Hirschl/Monique Weill-Caulier Trust Research Award. She has also been named a Rita Allen Foundation Scholar, a Vallee Foundation Scholar, and an Allen Distinguished Investigator from Paul Allen Foundation.