Patrick David Hsu, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Core Investigator of the Arc Institute
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and Deb Faculty Fellow
University of California, Berkeley
Seminar Information
The genome is a sequence that completely encodes the DNA, RNA, and proteins that orchestrate the function of a whole organism. I will discuss two recent advances from the lab: 1) the discovery of RNA-guided recombinases that enable a unified mechanism for the three fundamental DNA rearrangements, expanding the diversity of nucleic acid-guided systems beyond CRISPR and RNA interference, and 2) leveraging advances in machine learning combined with massive datasets of whole genomes to enable a biological foundation model that accelerates the mechanistic understanding and generative design of complex molecular interactions.
Patrick is Co-Founder and Core Investigator of the Arc Institute and Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and Deb Faculty Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. The Hsu lab bridges biology and machine learning to advance human health. A pioneer in the fields of generative biology and CRISPR gene editing, Patrick's scientific contributions include the Evo series of AI foundation models, the State virtual cell model, the first programmable recombinases, and the early development of CRISPR-Cas9 for human genome editing. He received A.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University and his research has been recognized by awards from the New York Times, The Atlantic, Forbes, MIT Technology Review, Rainwater Foundation, and Amgen. Outside of fundamental research, Patrick has co-founded multiple biotech companies, invests in AI startups, and helped to launch Fast Grants for rapid science funding.