Jonathan Gootenberg

Dr. Jonathan Gootenberg, who co-founded Proof Diagnostics in 2020, draws from fundamental microbiology to engineer new molecular tools. These tools, including the popular genome editing system CRISPR, allow for unprecedented manipulation and profiling of cellular states in the body, and have multiple applications in basic science, diagnostics and therapeutics. Dr. Gootenberg uses gene editing, gene delivery and cellular profiling methods to understand the changes that occur in the brain and other organs during aging, with the goal of generating new therapies for degenerative disease. Now he’s applying CRISPR to help prevent the spread of infectious disease, specifically COVID-19. Dr. Gootenberg earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and biological engineering at MIT and received his Ph.D. in systems biology from Harvard University, during which he conducted research with Aviv Regev and Feng Zhang at the McGovern Institute and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.