Nobel Laureates Redefine Women Empowerment
- Lauren Choppala
- Apr 19, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 7, 2021
Two Chemistry Nobel Prize winning scientists redraw the boundaries of what it means to become a successful female scientist inspiring many others in their journey.
In today's day and age of immense technological advancements and scientific discovery, finding something so profound and unheard of becomes seemingly more difficult. To what extent can there be something discoverable? The brilliant minds of American biochemist Jennifer Doudna and French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier have paved the pathway for the future world of science with their discoveries in summarizing the entirety of the genetic editing tool that is CRISPR Cas9 that had awarded them the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
A telephone interview hosted by Adam Smith with Emmanuelle Charpentier on October 7th, 2020 shortly after her Nobel Prize award for Chemistry announcement was made.
In her interview upon hearing the announcement for her award, it is visible that despite being overjoyed she was determined to explain the efforts her and her team have put through in publishing her work on CRISPR. To gain a general sense of her background from an article written on her by FEMS Microbiology Letters back in February 2018, Charpentier had not recognized her future goals until after she took her first upper division science course in her undergraduate years as a biology student. Only when she experienced microbiology had she realized that that was where her passion resided. Her mindset of wanting to create knowledge over absorbing information, and maintaining an adventurous attitude with constructing experiments in a world with infinite possibilities had led her to become such a successful scientist and a greater inspiration for many others. Her simple desire to achieve what she wanted could be attributed to her success today, and this mindset is her gift to the upcoming generations in remodeling the realm of what is means to be a researcher of science. Additionally, her wish is to view the discovery of a scientist as a scientist, rather than to diminish or amplify one's work based on their gender no matter the intention. Her belief is valid, especially since that utilizing one's identity to tarnish or lessen their discovery would essentially be an insult to the countless generations of amazing scientists and their work in our past. Thanks to her diligence and passion, Charpentier alongside Jennifer Doudna was able to uncover the mechanical and molecular process of successful genetic editing through a system known as CRISPR-Cas9.
A telephone interview hosted by Adam Smith with Jennifer Doudna on October 7th, 2020 after being announced as the Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry.
“Just because we are not ready for scientific progress does not mean it won't happen.”
- Jennifer A. Doudna, A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
The other half of the whole, Jennifer Doudna, has spectacularly demonstrated just how valuable the discovery of CRISPR Cas9 is reaching out to the entire globe in commercial and research industries from a seed planted purely by curiosity. Understanding her history from an article published by a non-profit organization "What is Biotechnology", it is evident that Doudna has spent her entire life being dedicated to her research despite entering a field that brought her discomfort. In her interview, she even highlights that finding the CRISPR Cas9 model was the result of a side project funded solely by her curiosity. Additionally, she makes note that by being a female Nobel laureate herself, she hopes to stand as a role model for both young girls and women in that their work will be honored and recognized in today's world and ought to stay diligent in reaching for their goals. Nonetheless, it is important to recognize that both Nobel prize winning scientists did not come out of the womb knowing they would make a groundbreaking discovery. Through their own choices and passion, they persevered through the entire process in order to publish something so great that it is capable of redefining the entire world's definition of molecular science.
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