What is the method for genome editing that won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry?

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, discovered CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors using which DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms can be changed with high precision.

Emmanuelle Charpentier was born in 1968 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France, and received her Ph.D. 1995 from Institut Pasteur in Paris. She is now the director of the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in Berlin.

Jennifer A. Doudna was born 1964 in Washington, D.C, and received her Ph.D. in 1989 from Harvard Medical School. She currently is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

A genome is the full set of genetic “instructions” that determine how an organism will develop. Using CRISPR, researchers can cut up DNA in an organism’s genome and edit its sequence

CRISPR technology is adapted from a system that is naturally present in bacteria and other unicellular organisms known as archaea.

This natural system gives bacteria a form of acquired immunity. It protects them from foreign genetic elements (such as invading viruses) and lets them “remember” these in case they reappear.

Crispr–Cas9 is a powerful tool that could revolutionise many aspects of our lives, from medical treatments to the way we produce food. It brought new opportunities for plant breeding and is contributing to innovative cancer therapies.

According to Chemistryworld, Since Charpentier and Doudna began investigating the Crispr–Cas9 system in 2011, the field has exploded. Due to the relative simplicity and affordability of Crispr systems, researchers around the world have been able to apply the tools to all manner of different problems.

The report further states that the ability to cut any DNA molecule at a chosen site has huge potential from treating genetic illnesses to creating disease-resistant crops. Trials have even shown how Crispr-delivered genetic modifications can spread through populations of mosquitoes and stop malaria infections such ‘gene-drives’ offer a way to eliminate the disease altogether.