[5] Young has made major contributions to the understanding of gene control in human development and disease.

[6] This concept of core regulatory circuitry helps guide current efforts to understand gene control, to develop reprogramming protocols for other human cell types and to understand how gene dysregulation contributes to disease.

[17][18] Young and his colleagues have proposed that regulation of genes occurs in nuclear bodies called biomolecular condensates.

[19] These condensates compartmentalize and concentrate the diverse biomolecules needed for proper regulation of gene expression.

He teaches three courses at MIT, “COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 and the Pandemic”, "Cell Biology: Structure and Functions of the Nucleus" and "Topics of Mammalian Development and Genetics", and guest lectures at numerous universities and research institutes worldwide.