CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang plans to ‘break open the barrier’ facing gene editing after raising $193 million for his secretive new startup

• The Boston biotech Aera Therapeutics said on Thursday it had raised $193 million.
• Feng Zhang, Aera’s founder and a CRISPR pioneer, spoke with Insider about his vision for the firm.
• Aera wants to “break open the barrier” of tech through methods like gene editing, Zhang said.

One of the world’s top gene-editing researchers told Insider about his firm’s ambition of solving one of the field’s thorniest problems.