Gene Yeo

Gene Yeo
Born	Eugene W. Yeo Singapore
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University of California, San Diego
Known for	RNA biology, RNA-binding protein genomics (eCLIP), RNA-targeted CRISPR therapeutics
Awards	Lee Kuan Yew Graduate Fellowship; Crick-Jacobs Junior Fellowship; Sloan Research Fellowship; RNA Society Early-Career Award; Blavatnik National Award (finalist); Xconomy “Big Idea” Award; Allen Distinguished Investigator; Elisa Izaurralde Award; Sydney Brenner Medal; Entrepreneurial Achievement Award
Scientific career
Fields	Molecular biology, Bioinformatics
Institutions	University of California, San Diego
Doctoral advisor	Christopher Burge, Tomaso Poggio

Gene Yeo is an American molecular biologist, computational biologist and entrepreneur. He is a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where his research focuses on RNA biology and post-transcriptional gene regulation. He is noted for developing high-throughput methods to map RNA–protein interactions, including the enhanced CLIP (eCLIP) technique, and for pioneering RNA-targeted therapeutic strategies. ^[1]

Early life and education

Gene Yeo was born in Singapore and later moved to the United States for his higher education. He completed dual undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering and economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He was awarded the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Graduate Fellowship to pursue doctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned his Ph.D. under the guidance of Christopher Burge and Tomaso Poggio. Yeo was recruited as the first Crick-Jacobs Fellow at the Salk Institute working with Terry Sejnowski and Rusty Gage. Yeo also broadened his expertise by obtaining an M.B.A. from UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management.

Academic career and research

In 2003, as a graduate student Yeo co-authored the MaxENT splice site algorithm, ^[2] which is one of the most utilized and cited splice site scorers.

In 2005, Yeo joined the Salk Institute as a Crick-Jacobs Fellow where he worked on RNA processing in stem and neuronal cells.

In 2008, Yeo joined the UCSD faculty as an assistant professor. His laboratory employs both computational and experimental approaches to investigate RNA biology, particularly the role of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in regulating RNA splicing, transport, translation, and degradation. ^[3]

In 2024, Yeo received the Sanford Stem Cell Institute Endowed Chair and is currently Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. He also currently serves as the founding Director for UCSD’s Center for RNA Technologies and Therapeutics, ^[4] the founding Chief Scientist for Sanford Laboratories for Innovative Medicine, the founding Director of the Sanford Stem Cell Institute Innovation Center, Scientific Director and Chair of the Steering Committee of Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La jolla, a founding member of the Institute for Genomic Medicine and member of the Moores Cancer Center.

One of Yeo's contributions to the field is the development of the enhanced CLIP (eCLIP) method, which allows for genome-wide identification of RBP binding sites on RNA molecules. This technique has significantly advanced the understanding of post-transcriptional gene regulation and has been widely adopted in RNA biology research. ^[1] To facilitate biological interpretation of RBP interactomics data, Gene’s lab also pioneered computational algorithms, such as CLIPper, ^[5] SONAR, ^[6] SKIPPER ^[7] and MudSKIPPER. ^[8]

Yeo’s work also extends to RNA-targeted therapeutics. His laboratory has explored the use of CRISPR-based tools to target RNA molecules, ^[9] aiming to correct aberrant RNA processing events that contribute to diseases such as myotonic dystrophy and neurodegenerative disorders. ^[10]

Entrepreneurial activities

Yeo co-founded Locana, Inc. (later rebranded as Locanabio), Enzerna Biosciences, Trotana Therapeutics, Eclipsebio, Orbital Therapeutics and Proteona.

Honors and awards

• Lee Kuan Yew Graduate Fellowship (2000) ^[11]
• Crick-Jacobs Junior Fellowship at the Salk Institute (2005–2008) ^[12]
• Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2011) ^[13]
• RNA Society Early-Career Award (2017) ^[14]
• Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists – Finalist (2018, 2019) ^[15]
• Xconomy “Big Idea” Award (2019) ^[16]
• Allen Distinguished Investigator (2020) ^[17]
• Elisa Izaurralde Award (2021) ^[18]
• Sydney Brenner Medal (2023) ^[19]
• Entrepreneurial Achievement Award (2023) ^[20]

Selected publications

• "Expanded encyclopaedias of DNA elements in the human and mouse genomes" JE Moore, MJ Purcaro, HE Pratt, CB Epstein, N Shoresh, J Adrian, T Kawli, et al. Nature 583(7818): 699–710 (2020). ^[21]

• "A model for neural development and treatment of Rett syndrome using human induced pluripotent stem cells" MCN Marchetto, C Carromeu, A Acab, D Yu, GW Yeo, Y Mu, G Chen, et al. Cell 143(4): 527–539 (2010). ^[22]

• "Long pre-mRNA depletion and RNA missplicing contribute to neuronal vulnerability from loss of TDP-43" M Polymenidou, C Lagier-Tourenne, KR Hutt, SC Huelga, J Moran, et al. Nature Neuroscience 14(4): 459–468 (2011). ^[23]

• "Robust transcriptome-wide discovery of RNA-binding protein binding sites with enhanced CLIP (eCLIP)" EL Van Nostrand, GA Pratt, AA Shishkin, C Gelboin-Burkhart, MY Fang, et al. Nature Methods 13(6): 508–514 (2016). ^[24]

• "A large-scale binding and functional map of human RNA-binding proteins" EL Van Nostrand, P Freese, GA Pratt, X Wang, X Wei, R Xiao, SM Blue, et al. Nature 583(7818): 711–719 (2020). ^[25]

References

1. Van Nostrand, E. L.; Pratt, G. A.; Shishkin, A. A.; Gelboin-Burkhart, C.; Fang, M. Y.; Sundararaman, B.; Blue, S. M.; Nguyen, T. B.; Surka, C.; Elkins, K.; Stanton, R.; Rigo, F.; Guttman, M.; Yeo, G. W. (2016). "Robust transcriptome-wide discovery of RNA-binding protein binding sites with enhanced CLIP (eCLIP)". Nature Methods. 13 (6): 508–514. doi:10.1038/nmeth.3810. PMC   4887338 . PMID   27018577.
2. "Maxent paper". doi:10.1089/1066527041410418. PMID   15285897.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
3. "Gene Yeo UCSD Lab Website" . Retrieved 2025-03-30.
4. "RNA Center" . Retrieved 2025-03-30.
5. "CLIPper". PMID   24213538.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
6. "SONAR". PMID   27720645.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
7. "Skipper". PMID   37388912.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
8. "Mudskipper". PMID   38955188.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
9. "Nelles 2016". PMID   26997482.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
10. Batra, Ranjan; Nelles, David A.; Roth, Daniela M.; Krach, Florian; Nutter, Curtis A.; Tadokoro, Takahiro; Thomas, James D.; Sznajder, Łukasz J.; Blue, Steven M.; Gutierrez, Haydee L.; Liu, Patrick; Aigner, Stefan; Platoshyn, Oleksandr; Miyanohara, Atsushi; Marsala, Martin; Swanson, Maurice S.; Yeo, Gene W. (February 2021). "The sustained expression of Cas9 targeting toxic RNAs reverses disease phenotypes in mouse models of myotonic dystrophy type 1". Nature Biomedical Engineering. 5 (2): 157–168. doi:10.1038/s41551-020-00607-7. PMC   8241012 . PMID   32929188 . Retrieved 2025-03-30.
11. "Asia's Rising Scientists: Gene Yeo,UCSD". Asian Scientist Magazine. Asian Scientist Publishing Pte Ltd. July 4, 2016. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
12. "Salk Institute for Biological Studies" . Retrieved 2025-03-30.
13. "2011 Sloan Research Report" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-03-30.
14. "RNA Society Awards" . Retrieved 2025-03-30.
15. "Blavatnik National Awards" . Retrieved 2025-03-30.
16. "The Winners of the 2019 Xconomy Awards San Diego Are..." 30 May 2019. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
17. "Allen Distinguished Investigator" . Retrieved 2025-03-30.
18. "Elisa Izaurralde Award" . Retrieved 2025-03-30.
19. "Sydney Brenner Medal" . Retrieved 2025-03-30.
20. "UCSD Rady School of Management Entrepreneurial Achievement Award" . Retrieved 2025-03-30.
21. Moore, J.E.; Purcaro, M.J.; Pratt, H.E.; Epstein, C.B.; Shoresh, N.; Adrian, J.; Kawli, T. (2020). "Expanded encyclopaedias of DNA elements in the human and mouse genomes". Nature. 583 (7818): 699–710. Bibcode:2020Natur.583..699E. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2493-4. PMC   7410828 . PMID   32728249.
22. Marchetto, M.C.N.; Carromeu, C.; Acab, A.; Yu, D.; Yeo, G.W.; Mu, Y.; Chen, G. (2010). "A model for neural development and treatment of Rett syndrome using human induced pluripotent stem cells". Cell. 143 (4): 527–539. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2010.10.016. PMC   3003590 . PMID   21074045.
23. Polymenidou, M.; Lagier-Tourenne, C.; Hutt, K.R.; Huelga, S.C.; Moran, J. (2011). "Long pre-mRNA depletion and RNA missplicing contribute to neuronal vulnerability from loss of TDP-43". Nature Neuroscience. 14 (4): 459–468. doi:10.1038/nn.2779. PMC   3094729 . PMID   21358643.
24. Van Nostrand, E.L.; Pratt, G.A.; Shishkin, A.A.; Gelboin-Burkhart, C.; Fang, M.Y. (2016). "Robust transcriptome-wide discovery of RNA-binding protein binding sites with enhanced CLIP (eCLIP)". Nature Methods. 13 (6): 508–514. doi:10.1038/nmeth.3810. PMC   4887338 . PMID   27018577.
25. Van Nostrand, E.L.; Freese, P.; Pratt, G.A.; Wang, X.; Wei, X.; Xiao, R.; Blue, S.M. (2020). "A large-scale binding and functional map of human RNA-binding proteins". Nature. 583 (7818): 711–719. Bibcode:2020Natur.583..711V. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2077-3. PMC   7410833 . PMID   32728246.

External links

• Gene Yeo Profile at UCSD