Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna are the first two women to share the prize, which honours their work on the technology of genome editing.
Their discovery, known as Crispr-Cas9 “genetic scissors”, is a way of making specific and precise changes to the DNA contained in living cells.
They will split the prize money of 10 million krona (£861,200; $1,110,400).
Biological chemist Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, commented: “The ability to cut DNA where you want has revolutionised the life sciences.”
Not only has the women’s technology been transformative for basic research, it could also be used to treat inherited illnesses.
Prof Charpentier, from the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in Berlin, said it was an emotional moment when she learned about the award.
“When it happens, you’re very surprised, and you think it’s not real. But obviously it’s real,” she said.
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Together, they recreated the bacterium’s genetic scissors in a test tube. They also simplified the scissors’ molecular components so they were easier to use.
In their natural form, the bacterial scissors recognise DNA from viruses. But Charpentier and Doudna showed that they could be reprogrammed to cut any DNA molecule at a predetermined site, publishing their findings in a landmark 2012 paper.
The breakthrough DNA snipping technology allowed the “code of life” to be rewritten.
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Article URL : https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54432589