Doudna awarded 2018 Kavli Prize
The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience, given every other year by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Kavli Foundaion, was awarded this year to Jennifer Doudna and two colleagues who developed the powerful nanoscale tool CRISPR-Cas9 to edit DNA.
The $1 million award, announced May 31, will be shared by Doudna, a professor of molecular and cell biology and of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, Emmanuelle Charpentier of the Max Planck Society and Virginijus Šikšnys of the Institute of Applied Enzymology in Vilnius, Lithuania. Doudna is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
“CRISPR-Cas9 is a breakthrough nanotool that will considerably enhance our understanding of genetic mechanisms. This great invention confers to society enormous capabilities for positive innovations,” said Arne Brataas, head of the nanoscience prize committee, in a statement.
