Since the discovery of DNA, scientists have sought a simple, reliable, affordable way to change the genetic code. Jennifer Doudna, together with Emmanuelle Charpentier and Virginijus iknys, won the 2018 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience for their invention of the gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9. This technique arose from research into how bacteria track down and destroy intruder DNA when infected by a virus. Now, scientists can reprogram the tool to disable or change almost any gene in order to research its function, heal an error, or add a helpful new trait.
To learn more about brilliant work of Kavli Prize Laureates, visit The Kavli Prize. To explore more of the biggest questions in science, click here.
This article is part of a special report, “The Biggest Questions in Science,” sponsored by The Kavli Prize. It was produced independently by Scientific American and Nature editors, who have sole responsibility for all the editorial content.
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