New Delhi: French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American researcher Jennifer A. Doudna have won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a method of genome editing likened to “molecular scissors” that offer the promise of one day curing genetic diseases.
Announcing this on Wednesday in Stockholm, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said: “There is enormous power in this genetic tool, which affects us all.” Claes Gustafsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry said “It has not only revolutionized basic science but also resulted in innovative crops and will lead to ground-breaking new medical treatments.”
He said that, as a result, any genome can now be edited “to fix genetic damage.”
According to media reports, Gustafsson cautioned that the “enormous power of this technology means we have to use it with great care” but that it “is equally clear that this is a technology, a method that will provide humankind with great opportunities.”
The prestigious award carries a gold medal and Prize money of 10 million kronor (more than $1.1 million), courtesy of a bequest left more than a century ago by Swedish inventor of dynamite and the Prize’s creator, Alfred Nobel.
The amount was increased recently to adjust for inflation.
(VP)