Jennifer Doudna

What if tiny scissors could fix a broken recipe inside every living thing? That's the idea behind the work of Jennifer Doudna. She's a scientist who helped invent CRISPR-Cas9, a tool that acts like microscopic scissors for DNA.

Born in 1964 and working today, Jennifer Doudna is an American biochemist from the modern era of biology. Her biggest claim to fame is turning CRISPR into a simple, programmable way to change genes. In 2012 she and Emmanuelle Charpentier proved Cas9 can be guided to cut DNA where scientists choose.

Think of DNA as a long recipe that tells cells how to work. CRISPR is like a pair of scissors with a built-in GPS: a tiny RNA guide that points the scissors to the exact sentence to cut. With that power, scientists can remove, fix, or replace short pieces of the genetic recipe.

The discovery changed science fast, making gene editing faster, cheaper, and more precise. Doudna and Charpentier's work launched new medical research to study and try to treat genetic diseases, and new ways to improve crops. For this breakthrough they were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

But Doudna also teaches that powerful tools must be used carefully. She helped start research centers like the Innovative Genomics Institute and has urged scientists and leaders around the world to make rules and think about safety and fairness. Her work shows that curiosity plus responsibility can change the world for the better.