The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A Doudna for their discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 genetic scissors, a method of genome editing. It marks the first time ever that two female scientists have jointly won the award.
The pair sparked a revolution in genome editing with their work, and CRISPR-Cas9 technology is now used widely in basic science, biotechnology and the development of future therapeutics. The tool can be used to change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision.