About Dana

Dana Carroll, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah School of Medicine and a member of the Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation Program at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Carroll’s research involves genome engineering using targetable nucleases. His lab pioneered the development of zinc-finger nucleases as gene targeting tools and continued working with the more recent TALENs and CRISPR/Cas nucleases. Much of the effort was focused on optimizing the efficiency of these reagents for targeted mutagenesis and gene replacement, which could ultimately provide treatment for many diseases, including certain types of cancer. This technology has now been applied to more than 200 different organisms, including current clinical trials in humans and improvements in crop plants and livestock. Carroll's current interests include societal implications of genome editing.

Carroll received his bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He did postdoctoral research at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, Scotland, and at the Carnegie Institution Department of Embryology in Baltimore.