Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award
Dr. Doudna is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences at
the University of California Berkeley and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute. Her research seeks to understand how RNA molecules control the expression
of genetic information. Her investigations into clustered regularly interspersed short
palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) and the CRISPR-associated (Cas) enzyme Cas9 led to
the transformative discovery of DNA cleavage by Cas9. Cas9 is an RNA-guided enzyme
whose ability to cut double-stranded DNA can be programmed by changing the guide
RNA sequence. Recognizing that this enzyme–RNA complex could be employed for
precision genome engineering, Dr. Doudna’s team created a simple-to-use system that
triggered a revolution in the fields of molecular genetics and genomics. The CRISPRCas9
technology is being used in laboratories around the world to advance biological
research by engineering cells and organisms in precise ways. This genome editing in
animals and plants is revolutionizing the fields of medicine, genetics, and molecular
biology in ways that will almost certainly lead to the development of new therapeutics,
biofuels, and agricultural products. Dr. Doudna is a member of the National Academy
of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Medicine,
and National Academy of Inventors. She has received many awards, including the
Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Princess of Asturias Award (Spain), Gruber Prize in
Genetics, Heineken Prize (Netherlands), Gairdner Award (Canada), Tang Prize (Taiwan),
Japan Prize (Japan), and L’Oreal-UNESCO International Prize for Women in Science.