CRISPR Scientists Win The Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, researchers of the CRISPR/Cas9 Protein (Wikimedia).

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna on October 7. The two researchers were given this honor for their work on studying the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing methodology.

CRISPR is a powerful gene technology that allows scientists to alter the DNA of animals, plants, and microorganisms using the Cas 9 protein and add or remove pieces. This discovery has major implications for potential treatments for cancer and genetic diseases. Doctors have already used this technology to treat sickle cell disease, a genetically inherited disease, and have shown successful results. Aside from its immense contributions to medicine, CRISPR-Cas9 can also be powerful in the agriculture industry by allowing genetic modification of crops. 

Despite the clear successes of Charpentier and Doudna’s research, discovering this genetic scissor was not their initial goal. In fact, CRISPR-Cas9’s isolation and recreation came out of Charpentier’s 2012 studies on Streptococcus pyogenes, one of the most harmful bacteria in humanity. After publishing her discoveries, Charpentier joined forces with Doudna. As a duo, they replicated the “scissor technology” found in Streptococcus pyogenes and made it accessible to utilize the individual molecular components. 

Recently, Doudna has applied CRISPR technology to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of researchers, led by Doudna, report that they have successfully developed a new COVID-19 test which uses CRISPR-Cas9. This testing method has significant advantages over current procedures because it provides results in five minutes and because it indicates the quantity of virus in the patient. Doudna and her team are currently working on building testing capacity in their lab in order to implement this new method in the future.  

The CRISPR-Cas9 protein latches onto a DNA strand and adds or subtracts genes (Wikimedia)

Charpentier and Doudna’s discoveries also carry great historical significance as they are the first women to win the award as a team. Between 1901 and 2020, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to 185 individuals, and Charpentier and Doudna were the sixth and seventh women in history to receive the award. Historically, the scientific achievements of women, within the Nobel Prize committee and beyond, have been consistently overlooked. Charpentier says that she hopes her work inspires "young girls who would like to follow the path of science, and to show them that women in science can also have an impact through the research that they are performing.”

From the publication of their work in 2012 to today, scientists continue to build upon the work of Charpentier and Doudna by editing the human DNA to treat sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia, and congenital blindness. In the future, the scientific community is hopeful that CRISPR can be used to treat more conditions, such as cystic fibrosis, type 1 diabetes, and hemophilia, all of which are caused by DNA mutations.