Boxuan Simen Zhao

Boxuan Simen Zhao's indexed research centers on epitranscriptomic regulation by mRNA modifications, particularly how m6A and pseudouridine shape gene expression. His most-cited lead-author review, on post-transcriptional gene regulation by mRNA modifications, has accumulated over 2,400 citations and frames much of this agenda. In zebrafish, he showed that m6A-dependent maternal mRNA clearance drives the maternal-to-zygotic transition. Related first-author work connects RNA methylation to stem cell pluripotency, extending the same mechanistic thread into developmental and fertility contexts. Beyond these lead-author pieces, his overall record includes middle-author contributions to widely cited studies, including work on m6A modulation of mRNA translation efficiency and on IGF2BP recognition of m6A enhancing mRNA stability. More recently, as senior author, he developed Connectome-seq, a high-throughput method for mapping neuronal connectivity at single-synapse resolution via barcode sequencing