Liu emphasizes the collaborative nature of his achievements, crediting his students and team for their contributions to these groundbreaking developments.

Beam Therapeutics, co-founded by Liu, has successfully treated patients with alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, showcasing the potential of base editing to repair genetic mutations.

David Liu, a professor at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, was awarded the prestigious $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences on April 5, 2025, in Los Angeles for his groundbreaking work in gene editing.

Currently, there are at least 14 clinical trials utilizing base editing, including a successful treatment for alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, a rare genetic disorder.

The first major breakthrough in Liu's research occurred in 2016 with the introduction of base editing, which has since led to successful clinical trials for various diseases, including leukemia.

His pioneering techniques, known as 'base editing' and 'prime editing', enable precise corrections of single-letter mutations in DNA and the rewriting of entire DNA sequences, significantly advancing gene therapy.

Alyssa Tapley, a 13-year-old girl, became the first patient to receive base editing treatment in 2022, achieving complete remission from leukemia within a month.

Future research aims to enhance delivery methods for gene editing technologies and develop mutation-agnostic therapies that can address multiple genetic mutations.

Other notable winners at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony included mathematician Dennis Gaitsgory and over 13,000 researchers at CERN for their contributions to particle physics.

Despite his successes, Liu has voiced concerns about funding cuts to U.S. science, warning that these reductions threaten future scientific progress and the welfare of upcoming generations.

Liu's team is committed to sharing their findings openly, underscoring the importance of societal benefit from publicly funded science.

Base editing was first applied successfully in a patient at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, saving the life of a British teenager with leukemia.