Abstract
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences bestows crEDIT to two CRISPR technology pioneers
Just as we went to press with this issue, the CRISPR world woke up to the marvelous news that the 2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to Jennifer Doudna (University of California Berkeley/HHMI) and Emmanuelle Charpentier (Max Planck Institute, Berlin). Remarkably, this is the first time that two women have shared a Nobel Prize. We congratulate these two distinguished pioneers for the development of CRISPR-based genome technologies and celebrate their success. It is not every day that a journal can boast the addition of two Nobel laureates to its editorial board.
The ultimate science prize is thoroughly well-deserved, a predictable and appropriate recognition of their seminal work, which laid the foundations for the genome editing revolution. In comments shortly after the announcement, both women noted that this should be seen as an inspiring moment for women in science. “I think it's very important for women to see a clear path,” Charpentier said shortly after the announcement. “I think the fact that Jennifer Doudna and I were awarded this prize today can provide a very strong message for young girls.”
Their well-chronicled adventures in the field are worth appreciating, be it narratives about the original science, the growing number of books being written about their inventions and collaborative efforts (see page 322), and the broad impact their work and spreading of the CRISPR gospel has already had. We shall henceforth redefine the history of the field as CRISPR BC (Before Charpentier), when relatively few people cared about CRISPR, and genome editing AD (After Doudna), because everybody cares about genome editing now!
On a personal note, I am particularly delighted that Jennifer has received this recognition for her work. I have had the unique opportunity in several capacities to appreciate her contributions besides her impactful science, as a co-author, business partner, co-founder and collaborator. I look forward to the world becoming more familiar with not only an inspiring scientific leader, but also a relatable, witty and delightful person. I know she and Emmanuelle, in different ways, are up to the task of promoting CRISPR technology and advance the dialogue to help enable acceptance by society at large.
Over the past few years, there has been intense speculation about who would eventually win the “CRISPR” Nobel Prize. Rather than “who”, the key question was arguably “which” prize, and Chemistry left little room to speculation. Of course, such great advances are made possible by many scientists, not just the two laureates honored by the Nobel Foundation. The committee had plenty of important discoveries and “heroes of CRISPR” to evaluate in this journey, including several collaborators and friends of mine: Virginijus Siksnys (credited with original Cas9 reprograming, portability and biochemistry); Feng Zhang and George Church (who published simultaneously in 2013 on CRISPR genome editing demonstration in human cells); Philippe Horvath and Sylvain Moineau, who helped establish the biological function of CRISPR-Cas immune systems; Erik Sontheimer, Luciano Marraffini and John van der Oost (who established the CRISPR mechanism of action); Eugene Koonin and Francisco Mojica (who supplied the mechanistic prediction of CRISPR immunity), and others (Jill Banfield, Kira Makarova, Jin-Soo Kim and Mike Terns).
But those discussions and arguments, best held in person in a bar when we emerge at last from this pandemic, should wait. This news is a truly celebratory event for the CRISPR field in general, for #WomeninSTEM, and for Jennifer and Emmanuelle in particular. We commend the Nobel Foundation for bestowing credit (or should that be crEDIT?) in the form of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry (rather than Medicine). We all look forward to addressing genetic diseases afflicting millions of lives, but as we have said before, the real promise of this chemistry-fueled technology lies primarily in the billions of lives it can beneficially impact when applied to species applicable to food, agriculture and sustainability.