Medicine: genetic scissors keep all their promises

A decade: a time that may seem long on a daily basis but which, in the field of research, is relatively short.

However, the impact of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, a fantastic tool for manipulating the genetic code, in such a short time, is impressive.

And since genome editing has applications in all fields of biology, all life sciences benefit from it.

Sometimes described as a "precision genetic scissor", the CRISPR-Cas9 tool uses a protein capable of cutting a double strand of DNA, coupled with a guide RNA (to know where to intervene in the genetic material).

The technique was developed thanks to the collaboration of Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Charpentier, director of the Max-Planck Research Center for Pathogen Science in Berlin, with American Jennifer Doudna, professor at the University of Berkeley, California. .

Just eight years after their initial publication in 2012, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The applications of CRISPR are too numerous to list extensively.

Jennifer Doudna, 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with Emmanuelle Charpentier

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