Jump to page content

Won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for genetic “scissors”

In 2020 the highest award in science went to a female duo for the first time. French microbiologist, geneticist and biochemist Emmanuelle Charpentier won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Jennifer A. Doudna, “for the development of a method for genome editing,” the so-called CRISPR-Cas9 genetic scissors.

“This means a lot for the young girls who would like to do research later or who are thinking about starting a career in science,” Charpentier said.

It’s the culmination of a scientific career that began in 1986 at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris and ultimately led her to Berlin, with many stops around the world in between. In 2015 Charpentier became director of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, and since 2018 has headed the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens. In 2019 she received the Science Award of the Governing Mayor of Berlin.

Download

Czech – česky, Japanese - 日本の