--- description: Find out why Beam Therapeutics was selected for TIME‘s list of the most influential companies of 2026. title: TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2026: Beam Therapeutics image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb71137e6ef3b3fdd/69d7db5c47096d9c51acaf33/time100-companies-2026-beam-therapeutics.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 30, 2026 # Beam Therapeutics Reimagining genetic treatments by [Chris Stokel-Walker](/author/chris-stokel-walker/) ## Chris Stokel-Walker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Coloured computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest of a patient with emphysema. Coloured computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest of a patient with emphysema.Dr. P Marazzi—Science Photo Library Traditional CRISPR editing works by cutting and reassembling DNA—effective but imprecise, with the risk of unintended mutations. Beam Therapeutics' base editing technology takes a different approach: it chemically converts one DNA letter to another without ever breaking the strand. “We make a really precise change, and literally change single letters of DNA: A to a G or C to a T,” says CEO John Evans. Base editing got its most dramatic validation last year when KJ Muldoon, a baby born with a rare, life-threatening metabolic disorder, became the first person ever to receive a personalized gene-editing therapy. Beam's [sickle cell program](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2504835?query=featured%5Fhome "undefined") has shown sustained improvements in patients for up to 20 months, and its most advanced [in-vivo program](https://beamtx.com/pipeline%5Fcandidates/beam-302/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com "undefined"), [BEAM-302](https://beamtx.com/pipeline%5Fcandidates/beam-302/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com "undefined"), which targets a genetic lung and liver condition known as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, has secured FDA orphan-drug status and an accelerated approval pathway. “I fully believe that gene editing is going to be one of the top three technologies of the century, probably along with AI and hopefully nuclear fusion,” says Evans. Beam Therapeutics: 2026 TIME100 Most Influential Companies ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-most-influential-companies/2026/beam-therapeutics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-most-influential-companies/2026/beam-therapeutics/"},"headline":"Beam Therapeutics","datePublished":"2026-04-30T14:02:31.365Z","dateModified":"2026-05-12T07:03:04.378Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/time100-most-influential-companies/2026/beam-therapeutics/","keywords":["TIME100 Companies","franchise","list"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb71137e6ef3b3fdd/69d7db5c47096d9c51acaf33/time100-companies-2026-beam-therapeutics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Stokel-Walker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/chris-stokel-walker/"}],"creator":"Chris Stokel-Walker","articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb71137e6ef3b3fdd/69d7db5c47096d9c51acaf33/time100-companies-2026-beam-therapeutics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-most-influential-companies/2026/beam-therapeutics/","name":"Beam Therapeutics"}}]}] ```