David B.T. Cox

Research Statement

AI generated · Oct 25, 2026

David B.T. Cox's indexed work centers on RNA-targeting CRISPR effectors and their therapeutic potential. His most-cited first-author paper, RNA editing with CRISPR-Cas13, established a programmable route to correcting transcripts rather than genomes, and it remains his most cited at over 1,800 citations. Earlier, he surveyed the field's clinical horizons in therapeutic genome editing, while his doctoral work characterized type VI-B RNA-targeting CRISPR systems and their accessory-protein regulation. Among his broader contributions, Cox appears as a middle author on multiplex genome engineering using CRISPR-Cas systems, the widely cited foundation for multi-target editing, and on C2c2 as a single-component programmable RNA-guided RNA-targeting effector, which first identified the enzyme family his later work would engineer. He also contributed to Cas13b and its regulation by Csx27 and Csx28. No software, datasets, patents, or grants are indexed beyond these publications. The through-line is clear: from foundational CRISPR discovery toward precise, RNA-level editing tools, developed alongside collaborators such as Feng Zhang.

Most Cited Works

Multiplex Genome Engineering Using CRISPR/Cas Systems

Le Cong, F Ann Ran, David Cox, Shuailiang Lin, Robert Barretto, Naomi Habib, Patrick D Hsu, Xuebing Wu, Wenyan Jiang, Luciano A Marraffini, Feng Zhang

Science2013

15,331Citations

RNA-guided editing of bacterial genomes using CRISPR-Cas systems

Wenyan Jiang, David Bikard, David Cox, Feng Zhang, Luciano A Marraffini

Nature Biotechnology2013

2,425Citations

Research Areas

CRISPR and Genetic EngineeringRNA regulation and diseaseBacterial Genetics and BiotechnologyRNA Interference and Gene DeliveryProtein Structure and Dynamics

Affiliations & Education

Education

2011–2020
Harvard University(US)
MD · Harvard Medical School
2013–2018
Massachusetts Institute of Technology(US)
PhD · Biology
2005–2009
Stanford University(US)
BS · Biology

Employment

2025–present

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