When Jennifer Doudna was in the sixth grade, her father gave her a copy of The Double Helix by DNA pioneer James Watson, and she was hooked. As a biochemistry graduate at a small California college, Doudna says she was “sort of amazed” to be accepted for graduate studies at Harvard. There she contributed to pioneering research on RNA, a field that became her passion. Doudna spent years investigating an unusual molecular sequence—acronym, CRISPR—and how it functioned. In 2011 she and microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier joined forces in research; the next year, they published revolutionary findings on how CRISPR, combined with an enzyme, Cas9, can cut DNA strands with surgical precision. The result: a gene-editing technique that’s been called the
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Strength in stubbornness: A 2020 Nobel winner reflects on her career
In this interview from National Geographic’s 2019 book “Women,” Jennifer Doudna discusses her award-winning work and says we must be ‘very open about the challenges that women face.’
The biochemist’s research, with colleague Emmanuelle Charpentier, led to the discovery of a revolutionary gene-editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9. Today, Jennifer Doudna (above) promotes the ethical use of gene-altering technologies.
Editor's note: The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier for the development of a method of genome editing. National Geographic editor in chief Susan Goldberg spoke with Doudna in 2019 for the book Women: The National Geographic Image Collection. The text has been edited for length and clarity.
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