French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer Doudna have been award the2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistryfor their development of theCRISPR / Cas9 genome editing technique , an approach that has often been lauded in the news show as a future panacea , capable of cure any ailment .
The two scientists win the 10 - million kronor ( about $ 1.12 million ) pillage , which they will share equally , for developing this simple but powerful way to blue-pencil the genome of live organisms .
CRISPR / Cas9 , or more just CRISPR , has been dub genetic " scissors " for its power to trim out precise patch of genomes and substitute them with others . This has allowed researchers to alter DNA and change the procedure of specific genes . CRISPR is now see by many as a important tool in fighting and cure multiple disease and familial weather condition , includingcancer , ancestry disorder , andHIV .
“ There is tremendous power in this genic tool , which feign us all . It has not only revolutionise canonical science , but also lead ininnovative cropsand will lead to ground - check novel medical treatment , ” Claes Gustafsson , hot seat of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry , said in astatement .
human are not the only organisms that are attacked by viruses . Bacteria too can fall dupe to these microorganisms . In her research , Charpentier discoveredStreptococcus pyogenes , a bacterium responsible for a blanket series of malady in humans , used a antecedently unknown molecule when it is attacked by a virus . This corpuscle , tracrRNA , cohere the virus ’s transmitted code , work as part of the bacteria ’s immune defense , CRISPR / Cas .
Collaborating with Doudna , Charpentier lay about quicken the bacteria ’s " genetic scissors " in a test pipe . Together with their team , they simplified the molecular structure , making it easy to apply , as well showing that it could be programmed to shorten any DNA corpuscle at a specific site .
This is of tremendous importance . Thanks to the find of CRISPR / Cas9 in 2012 , genetic editing has become a mickle more targeted . CRISPR has already been employed by others in genetically modified organisms and , passing controversially , inhumans . While the potential for this proficiency is huge , most scientists believe that the consequences of this technology are not full sympathise yet . But there ’s no denying its find was a game - changer .
This announcement is also exciting because since 1901 , when the Nobels were first launched , only seven woman have gain ground the Chemistry Prize . This is also the first fourth dimension in the chronicle of the Nobel Prizes that an award has been won solely by womanhood . The last clock time a Nobel Prize was awarded to only humans wasMonday .
