By: Alisha Bains, Brittney Corrado, and Laila Schwin
March 16, 2021
Jennifer Anne Doudna was born February 19, 1964. Doudna is an American biochemist known for her pioneering work in developing CRISPR gene editing. She, along with Emmanuelle Charpentier, who she worked with on the development of CRISPR, were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Doudna was born in Washington D.C., and shortly after, her family moved to Hawaii where she became interested in the biodiversity of the beautiful islands. Her father encouraged her to learn about science which sparked her interest in what would later become her lifelong career. She eventually studied biochemistry at Pomona College in California, graduating in 1985, and then received her PhD in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from Harvard Medical School in 1989.
She is best known for her discovery of CRISPR. The CRISPR-Cas9 system made it possible for scientists to alter DNA to fix genetic defects in animals and to modify DNA sequences in embryonic stem cells, an advancement opening the path to germ-line modification in humans. She discovered (CRISPR) by investigating unusual, repeating sequences which are found in the DNA of some bacteria. These genes help fight off invading viruses. Doudna and her team, along with Charpentier, figured out how CRISPR works.
Her work with CRISPR has been used in developments for potentially ending many diseases and genetic conditions such as sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s disease, and HIV. It uses RNA that will move or remove the “junk” from cells and is a major advancement in being able to eradicate and prevent diseases right from the beginning.
She also has focused-work on understanding the development and patterns of the Hepatitis C virus in order to help the development of more treatments that cause less harm to patients.
Among her work, Doudna has also founded and co-founded multiple companies focusing on the work of CRISPR such as Caribou, which has allowed commercialization of the process. Scribe Therapeutics, which developed the CasX version of CRISPR to more efficiently cut DNA, was also co-founded by Doudna. Equally impressive, in 2017, she founded her own company, Mammoth Biosciences, which focuses on improving access to bio-sensing tests which address challenges across healthcare, agriculture, environmental monitoring, biodefense, and more.
Doudna has received many honors and awards for her discoveries. Along with her Nobel Prize, she also received the Gruber Prize in Genetics (2015) and the Canada Gairdner International Award (2016), both shared with Emmanuelle Charpentier.
Overall, Doudna’s work, especially her developments for CRISPR, are valuable and have contributed greatly to modern medical developments and the constant strive toward expanding the human lifespan by curing diseases.
{Editor’s Note: Information for this article was retrieved from Britannica.com.}
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 