On Oct. 7, 2020, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna “for the development of a method for genome editing.”

Charpentier and Doudna discovered one of gene technology’s sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors. Using these, researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision. This technology has had a revolutionary impact on the life sciences, is contributing to new cancer therapies and may make the dream of curing inherited diseases come true.