Oct 7, 2026 —
The Progeria Research Foundation will honor base-editing pioneer David R. Liu at its Night of Wonder gala in November, recognizing a technology that underpins one of the most closely watched in vivo gene-editing efforts.
Liu’s labs developed base editing and prime editing, which rewrite single DNA letters without cutting both strands of the double helix. In Hutchinson-Gilford progeria, a single-letter mutation causes the disease, and base editing delivered in the body, often with an AAV vector, has corrected that mutation and extended lifespan in animal models.
The recognition is a marker of how quickly base editing has moved from a laboratory tool to a therapeutic strategy.
