Education

 2004-2009, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bioinformatics, Ph.D.

1999-2003, Soochow University, Biotechnology, B.S.

Academic Experience

2026-present, Changping Laboratory, Leading Scientist

2018-2026, School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, Principal Investigator

2014-2017, Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Staff Scientist

2010-2014, Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology, University of Chicago, Postdoc Scholar

Overview of Academic Research

Centered on key scientific questions and technological challenges in the development of gene and cell therapies， such as delivery efficiency, controllable gene expression, and in vivo cellular reprogramming， the group systematically develops novel delivery systems, tunable gene expression and genome editing strategies, and approaches for in vivo immune cell engineering.

The team aims to extend biotechnology research toward translatable innovation platforms. By exploring and implementing AI for Science (AI4Science) in real-world disease and therapeutic contexts, the work not only generates proprietary technologies but also provides sustained scientific support and innovation for the clinical translation and industrialization of gene and cell therapies.

Representative Research Achievements

Ÿ  Z. Lu*, K. Ni*, W. Liu*, Q. Song, R. Zheng, M. Wei, Y. Zhang, J. Wang, L. Wei, C. Wu, Q. Zhang, J. Wu, R. Zheng, S. Ding, C. Cheng, Y. Cong, Y. Xu, B. Kong, S. Wu, G. Wang, X. Wang, Y. Wang, X. Qian, R. Deng, H. Chen, Y. Li# & L. Ma#. An AAV6 variant enables human T cell engineering in vivo. Vita, 2026.

Ÿ  R. Zheng*, Z. Lu*, R. Wei*, Y. Shin*, J. Du*, Q. Zhang, J. Li, X. Wang, Y. Wei, B. Liu, Y. Chen, L. Ding, H. Zhang, H. Chen, J. Huang# & L. Ma#. Improving the efficiency of high-fidelity Cas9 by enhancing PAM-distal interactions. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2026.

Ÿ  Q. Song*, J. Wu*, Q. Zhang, S. Wu, X. Luo, M. Xu, Y. Xu, G. Wang, H. Yu, H. Chen, Z. Lu# & L. Ma#. Directed evolution of novel AAV variants using the MCMS library for enhanced CNS tropism and reduced liver targeting in mice. Molecular Therapy Methods & Clinical Development, 2025.

Ÿ  R. Wei*, Z. Yu*, L. Ding*, Z. Lu, K. Yao, H. Zhang, B. Huang, M. He# & L. Ma#. Improved split prime editors enable efficient in vivo genome editing. Cell Reports, 2024.

Ÿ  Y. Liu*, Z. Lu*, P. Wu*, Z. Liang, Z. Yu, K. Ni & L. Ma. The Transpeptidase Sortase A Binds Nucleic Acids and Mediates Mammalian Cell Labeling. Advanced Science, 2024.

Ÿ  H. Zhang*, J. Yan*, Z. Lu*, Y. Zhou, Q. Zhang, T. Cui, Y. Li, H. Chen & L. Ma. Deep sampling of gRNA in the human genome and deep-learning-informed prediction of gRNA activities. Cell Discovery, 2023.

Ÿ  Z. Yu*, Z. Lu*, J. Li*, Y. Wang*, P. Wu, Y. Li, Y. Zhou, B. Li, H. Zhang, Y. Liu & L. Ma. PEAC-seq adopts Prime Editor to detect CRISPR off-target and DNA translocation. Nature Communications, 2022.

Ÿ  Z. Lu*, K. Ni*, Y. Wang, Y. Zhou, Y. Li, J. Yan, Q. Song, M. Liu, Y. Xu, Z. Yu, T. Guo & L. Ma. An in-library ligation strategy and its application in CRISPR/Cas9 screening of high-order gRNA combinations. Nucleic Acids Research,  2022.

Q. Song*, K. Ni*, M. Liu*, Y. Li, L. Wang, Y. Wang, Y. Liu, Z. Yu, Y. Qi, Z. Lu & L. Ma. Direct-seq: programmed gRNA scaffold for streamlined scRNA-seq in CRISPR screen. Genome Biology, 2020.