Caixia Gao PhD, Professor, Doctoral supervisor

    Dr. Gao received her Ph.D. degree from the China Agricultural University in 1997. From 1997 to 2009, she served as a Research Scientist at DLF’s biotechnology group in Denmark, where she worked on plant genetic transformation and molecular biology. Now she is a Principal Investigator at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her research group focuses on developing precision genome editing technologies and establishing foundational methods on using genome editing to breed for new and sustainable crops. She has developed new crops that are more nutritious, disease resistant, and stress tolerant. Her research was selected as one of 2016 MIT Technology Review’s 10 Breakthrough Technologies and one of the most cited Nature Biotechnology papers over its 20 year history in 2016. Also in 2016, Caixia was selected as one of Nature’s ten science stars of China.


Since 2023    Board of Reviewing Editors, Science

Since 2023    Advisory Board, Molecular Cell

Since 2023    Associate Editor,SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences

Since 2020    Advisory Board, Cell

Since 2020    Editorial Board, Gene and Genome Editing

Since 2020    Advisory Board, Trends in Biotechnology

Since 2020    Advisory Board, Trends in Genetics

Since 2017    Editorial Board, Genome Biology

2018-2020    Editorial Board, The CRISPR Journal

2017-2020    Editorial Board, Plant Biotechnology Journal

Awards & Honors
2024 New Cornerstone Investigator
2023 China's Top 10 Science Advances in 2023
2023 Publication Selected for "Best of Cell 2023" (9 total)
2023 China's Top 10 Bioinformatics Advances in 2023
2023 Cell Press China’s Women in Science Awards
2016-2023 CAS Presidential Award for Excellent Postgraduate Mentors
2022 Physiologia Plantarum Prize
2022 "Women in Science" of Chinese Scientists for Cell Press (5 total)
2019 Our Favorite Science Photos of 2019
2017 China's National Innovation Award
2016 Polyploid crop engineering named the 20 years of Nature Biotechnology bioengineering research (four papers in the world)
2016 "Precise gene editing in plants" named one of ten 2016 Breakthrough Technologies by MIT Technology Review
2016 Named to the Ten Science Stars of China by Nature
2016 Tan Jiazhen Innovation Awards for Life Sciences
2015 DuPont Young Professor Award
2013 Yihai Kerry Outstanding Mentor Award
2010 Outstanding technical talents of the Chinese Academy of Sciences