Emmanuelle charpentier wikipedia

Microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier and biochemist Jennifer Doudna co-invented the gene-editing system CRISPR-Cas9, a versatile technology for editing DNA on an unprecedented scale with extremely high precision.

Born in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France, Charpentier was interested in sciences from a young age.

“I have always been encouraged by my parents to explore my own academic interests,” she said. “Although it was not clear at the time that I would eventually study biology, I showed an interest in science very early on. In fact, I was interested not only in pure sciences and mathematics, but also in the human sciences — psychology, sociology and philosophy.”

Charpentier studied biochemistry, microbiology and genetics at the University Pierre and Marie Curie (now Sorbonne University) in Paris, and obtained her doctorate in microbiology for her research performed at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

By the time Charpentier and Doudna met in 2011 at a scientific