Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer Doudna

Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna become fifth and sixth women laureates in the category

Two scientists won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for creating genetic “scissors” that can rewrite the code of life, contributing to new cancer therapies and holding out the prospect of curing hereditary diseases.

Emmanuelle Charpentier, who is French, and American Jennifer Doudna share the 10 million Swedish crown ($1.1 million) prize for developing the CRISPR/Cas9 tool to edit the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with precision.

“The ability to cut the DNA where you want has revolutionized the life sciences,” Pernilla Wittung Stafshede of the Swedish Academy of Sciences told an award ceremony.

Charpentier, 51, and