First female holder of the Aachen Engineering Prize receives Nobel Prize in Chemistry
This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to two female scientists, the French Emmanuelle Charpentier and the US American Jennifer Doudna. They have developed methods for genetic modification. In 2018 Charpentier was the first woman to receive the Aachen Engineering Prize for this work.
Charpentier, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, and Doudna were instrumental in developing the CRISPR/Cas9 gene scissors. This enables researchers to modify the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with the utmost precision.
The ceremonial presentation of the prizes traditionally takes place on December 10th, the anniversary of the death of the founder Alfred Nobel. Since 1901, only five women have been honored with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (a total of 183 awards).
For more information please read the press release of RWTH Aachen University and the press release of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.