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

Researchers need to modify genes in cells if they are to find out about life’s inner workings. This used to be time-consuming, difficult and sometimes impossible work. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors, it is now possible to change the code of life over the course of a few weeks.

Charpentier and Doudna discovered one of gene technology’s sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). Using these, researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision.

Since Charpentier and Doudna discovered the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors in 2012 their use has exploded. This tool has contributed to many important discoveries in basic research, and plant researchers have been able to develop crops that withstand mould, pests and drought.

In medicine, clinical trials of new cancer therapies are underway, and the dream of being able to cure inherited diseases is about to come true. These genetic scissors have taken the life sciences into a new epoch and, in many ways, are bringing the greatest benefit to humankind.