Kathy Niakan is a developmental biologist, working in human developmental and stem cell biology. In 2016 she became the first scientist in the world to gain regulatory approval to edit the genomes of human embryos for research. Niakan was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

in April 2016.

Biography

Kathy Niakan obtained a BSc in cell and molecular biology and a BA in English literature from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. In 2005, Niakan obtained her PhD in stem cell and developmental biology from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, where she worked in the laboratory of Edward McCabe. She went on to be a research fellow with Kevin Eggan at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, working with human and mouse stem cells to study

human embryogenesis Human embryonic development or human embryogenesis is the development and formation of the human embryo. It is characterised by the processes of cell division and cellular differentiation of the embryo that occurs during the early stages of deve ...

and

cell potency Cell potency is a Cell (biology), cell's ability to Cellular differentiation, differentiate into other cell types. The more cell types a cell can differentiate into, the greater its potency. Potency is also described as the gene activation potentia ...

. She then moved to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Anne McLaren Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology in the

Cambridge Biomedical Campus The Cambridge Biomedical Campus is the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe. The site is located at the southern end of Hills Road in Cambridge, England. Over 20,000 people work at the site, which is home to Cambrid ...

where she continued to investigate the molecular basis of early cell development in humans and mice. In 2013, Niakan became a group leader at the MRC

National Institute for Medical Research The National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), was a medical research institute based in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of north London, England. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC); In 2016, the NIMR became part of the new F ...

(NIMR) in London. Since 2015, she has been a group leader at the

Francis Crick Institute The Francis Crick Institute (formerly the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) is a biomedical research centre in London, which was established in 2010 and opened in 2016. The institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, Im ...

, the successor institute to the NIMR. She was a finalist in the inaugorary UK

Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists was established in 2007 through a partnership between the Blavatnik Family Foundation, headed by Leonard Blavatnik (Russian: Леонид Валентинович Блаватник), chairman of Access Indu ...

in 2019. In 2021, Professor Kathy Niakan was appointed as an honorary group leader in the Epigenetics research programme as part of the Babraham Institute. The Babraham Institute pioneers world-changing scientific developments, and focuses on cellular signalling, gene regulation, immunology, and the impact of epigenetic regulation at different stages of life. This new appointment and leadership position will hopefully allow Kathy to collaborate with others in her field and continue vital research.

Research

At the Francis Crick Institute she is investigating the mechanisms of lineage specification in human embryos and stem cells. In February 2016 Niakan was given the go-ahead by the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to genetically modify human embryos. The embryos were to be destroyed after seven days. She planned to use the

CRISPR CRISPR (; acronym of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a family of DNA sequences found in the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. Each sequence within an individual prokaryotic CRISPR is d ...

technique to answer questions like what genetic faults cause some women to miscarry, what causes infertility and what is crucial for a healthy embryo. In 2017 her lab published the first major study using CRISPR-Cas9 in human embryos in

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

, demonstrating that the transcription factor

Oct4 Oct-4 (octamer-binding transcription factor 4), also known as POU5F1 ( POU domain, class 5, transcription factor 1), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''POU5F1'' gene. Oct-4 is a homeodomain transcription factor of the POU family ...

is essential for fetal development. In addition to her pioneering research, Professor Niakan has engaged with policy makers, funders and the public to provide expert advice on genome editing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niakan, Kathy Living people Developmental biologists 21st-century American biologists University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni American expatriates in the United Kingdom American people of Iranian descent 1977 births Academics of the Francis Crick Institute Biologists from Tennessee