A revolution is underway in gene editing, and at its forefront is David Liu, an American molecular biologist whose pioneering work is rewriting the building blocks of life with unprecedented precision.

A professor at the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Liu was awarded a Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences on Saturday for developing two transformative technologies: one already improving the lives of patients with severe genetic diseases, the other poised to reshape medicine in the years ahead.

He will receive $3 million for his work on "base editing" and "prime editing," and plans to donate most of it to support his charitable foundation.