A hypothesis is only the first step in any rigorous scientific process.
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Jennifer Doudna
Jennifer Anne Doudna (born 19 February 1964) is an American biochemist, Professor of Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She has been an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) since 1997. She is also the director of the joint UC Berkeley-UC San Francisco center Innovative Genomics Institute. She also holds Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Professorship in Biomedical and Health, and the chair of the Chancellor's Advisor Committee on Biology at UC Berkeley. Doudna has been a leading figure in what is often referred to as the "CRISPR Revolution" for her early fundamental work and ongoing leadership in the development of CRISPR-mediated genome editing. In their seminal 2012 paper A programmable dual-RNA-guided DNA endonuclease in adaptive bacterial immunity, Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier were the first to propose that CRISPR/Cas9 could be used for programmable gene editing. This discovery is considered as one of the most significant discoveries in the history of biology. Their work has since been further developed by many research groups for applications ranging from fundamental protein research to treatments for diseases including sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, and HIV. Doudna has been widely acclaimed by the scientific community for her fundamental contributions to the fields of biochemistry and genetics, receiving many prestigious awards and fellowships. She was awarded the 2000 Alan T. Waterman Award for her research on ribozyme, and 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for her contributions to CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology (with Charpentier). She has also been a co-recipient of the Gruber Prize in Genetics (2015), the Canada Gairdner International Award (2016) and the Japan Prize (2017
The genome— a term coined in 1920 by the German botanist Hans Winkler and probably intended as a portmanteau of gene and chromosome— refers to the entire set of genetic instructions found inside a cell. Mostly identical from cell to cell within any given organism save for the occasional mutation,…
Humans have been reshaping the physical world for millennia, but the effects have never been as dramatic as they are today.
Perhaps a decade away, we may see new treatments for muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis. I think the challenges for these diseases. have less to do with the gene-editing technology and more to do with figuring out how to deliver the editing molecules into tissues.
As challenging as the patenting process is, I respect the fact that it really does enable companies to have protection as they are working on commercial use of the technologies. This need is especially important for human therapies, which require a lot of financial investment and a long time to…
I see myself as forever a student.
As scientists, we need to explain what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, not dictating how these discoveries and technologies should be used.
My dad was not a scientist, but he loved solving puzzles. One of his favorites was cryptoquotes—quotes by famous people that are encrypted. The challenge is to break the code and solve the quote. They would come out in our local newspaper, and when my dad got stuck, he would often enlist help from…