Emmanuelle Charpentier
Facts
© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Bernhard Ludewig
Emmanuelle Charpentier
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020
Born: 11 December 1968, Juvisy-sur-Orge, France
Affiliation at the time of the award: Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens, Berlin, Germany
Prize motivation: “for the development of a method for genome editing”
Prize share: 1/2
Work
The life processes of organisms are controlled by genes made up of sections of DNA. In 2012, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna developed a method for high-precision genome editing. They used the immune system of a bacterium, which disables viruses by cutting their DNA up with a type of genetic scissors. By extracting and simplifying the genetic scissors' molecular components, they made it generally applicable. The CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors can lead to new scientific discoveries, better crops and new weapons in the fight against cancer and genetic diseases.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
