Nobel awards adapt to challenging times

Discoveries by science laureates break new ground

The Nobel Prize ceremonies have been scaled back this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Many of the traditional events, such as the grand banquet, have been canceled or moved online and new formats have been adopted to celebrate and pay tribute to this year's laureates.

The Nobel season takes place in October each year, with committees in Sweden and Norway announcing those awarded for outstanding work in the fields of science, literature, peace and economics.

This year, medals and diplomas are being handed to the laureates in their home countries, most likely with the help of embassies or the winners' universities. The recipients will be invited to next year's awards ceremony and banquet.

In the field of science, there were some notable successes this year. Female laureates were celebrated for their achievements, with winners from the United Kingdom standing out against their contemporaries from the United States.

On Oct 7, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to scientists Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for developing a method for genome editing.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement, "Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna have discovered one of gene technology's sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors.

"This technology has had a revolutionary impact on the life sciences, is contributing to new cancer therapies and may make the dream of curing inherited diseases come true."

Charpentier, who is French, and Doudna, a US citizen, become the sixth and seventh women to win a Nobel for chemistry, joining the likes of Marie Curie, who won in 1911, and more recently, Frances Arnold, in 2018.

It is also the first time this Nobel Prize has been awarded to an all-female group of laureates.

The path to winning the chemistry award took less than a decade－considered a relatively short period by Nobel standards.

Charpentier, director of the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in Berlin, Germany and Doudna, a Li Ka Shing Chancellor Chair Professor at the University of California, Berkeley in the US and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, discovered the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors in 2012.

During Charpentier's studies of Streptococcus pyogenes, which is among the bacteria causing the most harm to humanity, she discovered a previously unknown molecule, tracrRNA. Her work showed that tracrRNA is part of the bacteria's ancient immune system, CRISPR/Cas, which disarms viruses by cutting their DNA.

The pair collaborated after Charpentier published her discovery in 2011. The scientists went on to successfully recreate the bacteria's genetic scissors in a test tube and simplified the scissors' molecular components, making them easier to use.

Since then, this tool has contributed to many important discoveries in basic research, and has enabled plant researchers to develop crops that withstand mold, pests and drought.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said that in medicine, clinical trials of new cancer therapies are underway and the dream of being able to cure inherited diseases is about to be realized. The genetic scissors have taken life sciences into a new era and, in many ways, are bringing the greatest benefit to humankind.

Speaking from Berlin, Charpentier, 51, told reporters after the award was announced by the academy in Stockholm, the Swedish capital: "Strangely enough, I was told a number of times (that I'd win), but when it happens you're very surprised and you feel that it's not real. But obviously it's real, so I have to get used to it now."

Doudna told The Associated Press, "My greatest hope is that it is used for good, to uncover new mysteries in biology and to benefit humankind."

On being one of the first two women to share the prize, Charpentier said she hoped it would send a positive message to young girls who want to pursue a career in science.

Doudna said in an interview with UC Berkeley that she grew up being told "girls don't do science", adding that fortunately she ignored this.

"It really speaks to the fact that I think for many women there is a feeling that no matter what they do, their work will never be recognized the way it would be if they were a man. And this recognition today, I think just, you know, refutes that."

Claes Gustafsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said: "There is enormous power in this genetic tool, which affects us all. It has not only revolutionized basic science, but also resulted in innovative crops and will lead to groundbreaking new medical treatments."

However, although CRISPR/Cas9 had been tipped for the Chemistry prize, there were concerns that the technology conferred "Godlike powers" on scientists and could be misused－for example, to create "designer babies".