Doudna and Charpentier, CRISPR pioneers behind a spate of gene editing companies, awarded Nobel Prize

Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier have won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry eight years after their joint discovery that the CRISPR-Cas9 bacterial immune defense system can be harnessed for gene editing applications. The gene editing technology has transformed basic and translational research, and has the potential to do the same for therapeutics and diagnostics.

The award comes before the resolution of a patent dispute over inventorship of certain aspects of the technology and before its biggest potential impact — on human therapeutics — is validated, reflecting the transformational potential of the technology platform.  ...