Striving towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this year was awarded to two scientists who developed a revolutionary tool for genome editing:

• Emmanuelle Charpentier: French, received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Pasteur Institute in 1995. She currently serves as Director and Max Planck Unit Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology and Professor at Humboldt University of Berlin.
• Jennifer A. Doudna: American, earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Harvard University in 1984. She continues to work as the Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair in Biomedical Science and Professor of Chemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

These two laureates were jointly recognized for their development of the CRISPR-Cas9, a powerful gene editing tool that allows scientists to precisely modify DNA in living organisms. This revolutionary technology has opened up entirely new avenues in various fields, including medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology.

• Charpentier discovered the potential of CRISPR in bacteria while studying their immune systems.
• Doudna collaborated with Charpentier to demonstrate the potential of CRISPR-Cas9 for genome editing in human cells, making it a widely accessible tool.

The impact of their work on CRISPR-Cas9 cannot be overstated. It has revolutionized genome editing, offering immense potential for medical treatments, crop improvement, and other fields.