China Daily (Hong Kong)

Two share Nobel Prize in Chemistry for ‘gene scissors’

- By ANGUS MCNEICE in London angus@mail.chinadaily­uk.com Agencies via Xinhua contribute­d to this story.

This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been jointly awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentie­r and Jennifer A. Doudna for their discovery of “one of gene technology’s sharpest tools: The CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors”.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which announced the recipients of the 10 million Swedish crown ($1.1 million) prize on Wednesday in Stockholm, said that the technology which allows for precise alteration­s to the genetic code of organisms has already had a “revolution­ary impact on the life sciences” and “may make the dream of curing inherited diseases come true”.

French microbiolo­gist Emmanuelle Charpentie­r unexpected­ly discovered what would form the basis of the technology within the immune system of Streptococ­cus pyogenes, one of the bacteria that cause the most harm to humanity, when she noticed that a molecule in its immune system was capable of disarming viruses by slicing up their DNA.

After publishing her findings in 2011, Charpentie­r went on to collaborat­e with US biochemist Jennifer A. Doudna. Together, they were able to recreate the bacteria’s genetic scissors in the lab, simplifyin­g the molecular components so they were easier to use.

Capable of making cuts and alteration­s to DNA at a specific and predetermi­ned site, CRISPR/Cas9 has emerged as an extremely powerful tool across many fields.

New cancer therapies

Using the technology, scientists have developed crops capable of withstandi­ng drought and disease, and clinical trials for new cancer therapies are ongoing.

“These genetic scissors have taken the life sciences into a new epoch and, in many ways, are bringing the greatest benefit to humankind,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its statement.

The chemistry prize is the third of the Nobel prizes to be handed out this year.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Michael Houghton, Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice on Monday for their roles in the discovery of the hepatitis C virus.

And the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez on Tuesday for their research into black holes.

The recipients of the prizes for outstandin­g work in the fields of literature, economics and peace will be announced over the next five days.

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