CRISPR Scientist Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry
A few days ago, Jennifer A. Doudna was awarded The 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry for her work in CRISPR, along with Emmanuelle Charpentier. The work has led to a major breakthrough for developing a cure for cancer.
The Nobel Prize for CRISPR has been cited as a “development of a method for genome editing.”
credit: Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Doudna’s research and method is nothing new however. 20 years ago, she was recognized for this breakthrough methodology when she, and her team, received Alan T. Waterman award.
According to Doudna, CRISPR began as a basic science, curiosity-driven project.
The CRISPR method is not limited to a cure for cancer. Although its impact on that disease will surely have a dramatic effect on ridding our planet of the disease.
This also has applications across a wide array of fields including bioengineering, medicine, agriculture — even manufacturing.
In the coming years, it is expected to impact other areas as well.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has been a large supporting force behind this new scientific tool for decades. In addition to the Waterman award, the NSF has provided Doudna and her team with other funding grants.
CRISPR provides a way for scientists to more readily edit genes. This allows for enhancement but, perhaps more importantly, allows for the removal of thigs which lead to disease.
The acronym stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. This is a family of sequences in the genomes of prokarotic bacteria. These are able to detect and destroy DNA from similar bacteriophages during subsequent infections.
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