Women Win Nobel Prize For Creating Revolutionary Genetic Scissors

Two women won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing genetic ‘scissors’ that can write the code of life. This rewriting code of life can be contributing to new cancer therapies and healing hereditary diseases.

The CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors are discovered by  Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna that is being called one of gene technology’s sharpest tools.

Researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants, and microorganisms.

More so, cancer therapies will be revolutionary and hereditary diseases can be cured with this technology.

Previously in order to understand the inner working of life, genes in cells had to be modified by researchers. It was a difficult, time-consuming, sometimes impossible to work with. This newest technology opens many new doors for researchers where they can change the code of life in a few weeks.

 “There is enormous power in this genetic tool, which affects us all. It has not only revolutionized basic science but also resulted in innovative crops and will lead to ground-breaking new medical treatments,” says Claes Gustafsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

The discovery of genetic scissors was unexpected. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna collaborated in the year 2011.

Read More: Pakistan To Manufacture Its First Bloodless Kidney Dialysis Machine

The discovery has lead to many new treatments of cancer that are in clinical trials. These genetic scissors are beneficial to humankind.