Jennifer A. Doudna
Facts
© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Brittany Hosea-Small
Jennifer A. Doudna
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020
Born: 19 February 1964, Washington, DC, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Prize motivation: "for the development of a method for genome editing."
Prize share: 1/2
Work
The life processes of organisms are controlled by genes made up of sections of DNA. In 2012, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier developed a methodology for high precision changes to genes. They used the immune defenses of bacteria, which disable viruses by cutting their DNA up with a type of genetic scissors. By extracting and simplifying the gene scissors’ molecular components, they were able to make a tool that could be used to cut any DNA molecule at a predetermined site. The CRISPR/Cas9 gene scissors can lead to new scientific discoveries, better crops and new weapons in the fight against cancer and genetic diseases.
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Nobel Prizes 2021
Their work and discoveries range from the Earth’s climate and our sense of touch to efforts to safeguard freedom of expression.
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