Yang Shi

The milestone events in the chromatin field include the discoveries of the first histone acetyltransferase, deacetylase, methyltransferase and demethylase. The fundamental gene regulatory process of histone methylation was long considered irreversible. But the discovery of the first histone demethylase LSD1 by Shi disproved this dogma, uncovering an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for dynamic regulation of histone methylation. Shi also discovered a plethora of Jmjc domain-containing histone demethylases and novel chromatin readers, and their roles in development, differentiation, intellectual disability and cancer. Collectively, these discoveries forged new areas in chromatin biology with implications in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes.