Deng Hongkui () is a Chinese immunologist and

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

researcher. He is a Changjiang Professor, the Boya Chair Professor, and Director of the Institute of Stem Cell Research at

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

. He was awarded US$1.9 million by the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...

for his research on vaccines for

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

and

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

. In 2017, he and Chen Hu engineered resistance to

in mice using CRISPR gene editing, and for the first time used the technique on an AIDS patient.

Biography

Deng Hongkui entered

Wuhan University Wuhan University (WHU; ) is a public research university in Wuhan, Hubei. The university is sponsored by the Ministry of Education. Wuhan university was founded as one of the four elite universities in the early republican period of China and i ...

in 1980, where he earned his B.Sc. in 1984. He then studied at

Shanghai Second Medical College The Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM, ), formerly Shanghai Second Medical University, is a public medical school in Shanghai, China. Clinical medicine of SJTUSM is consistently ranked first among medical schools nationa ...

and earned his master's degree in 1987. In 1990, he moved to the United States to study at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1995, under the supervision of Eli Sercarz. From 1995 to 1998 he was an Aaron Diamond Postdoctoral Fellow at the

New York University School of Medicine NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School of ...

, where he conducted research under

Dan Littman Dan R. Littman is an American immunologist best known for his work on T lymphocytes. He is Professor of Molecular Immunology at New York University, an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and a member of the National Academy of S ...

. From 1998 to 2001, he worked as research director of ViaCell, a

biotech company based in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. In 2001, Deng was awarded the prestigious Changjiang Professorship by the Chinese government, and returned to China to work at

. He initially worked on treating

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

using

human embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre- implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist ...

. During the SARS outbreak, he conducted research on SARS treatment and vaccine. In 2006, he was awarded US$1.9 million by the Grand Challenges In Global Health initiative of the

, for his research on vaccines for

and

. He became Director of Peking University's Institute of Stem Cell Research in 2013 and was appointed the Boya Chair Professor in 2016. In 2017, Deng and his collaborator, Chen Hu of the

307 Hospital The 307th Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, commonly called the 307 Hospital (), is a hospital in China. It is in Fengtai District, Beijing. The hospital combines medical treatment, research, and educational studies into a comprehe ...

, used CRISPR gene editing to transplant human

hematopoietic stem cell Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the stem cells that give rise to other blood cells. This process is called haematopoiesis. In vertebrates, the very first definitive HSCs arise from the ventral endothelial wall of the embryonic aorta within t ...

s with the edited CCR5 gene to mice, and conferred

resistance to the animals. They subsequently used the technique to treat an AIDS patient who suffered from

acute lymphoblastic leukemia Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the lymphoid line of blood cells characterized by the development of large numbers of immature lymphocytes. Symptoms may include feeling tired, pale skin color, fever, easy bleeding or bruisin ...

(ALL). It was the first time CRISPR was used on a human HIV patient. 19 months later, the patient's ALL was in complete remission. Their research demonstrated the safety of CRISPR for humans, although the therapy was not effective for curing AIDS as only 5% to 8% of the patient's

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It is composed of hematopoietic ce ...

cells carried the edited CCR5 gene, much lower than the ideal 100%. Their findings were published in ''

The New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. His ...

'' in September 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deng, Hongkui Living people Chinese expatriates in the United States Chinese immunologists Chinese medical researchers New York University fellows Academic staff of Peking University Shanghai Jiao Tong University alumni Stem cell researchers University of California, Los Angeles alumni Wuhan University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)