Genome editing wins Nobel chemistry prize

Two scientists have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the tools to edit DNA.

Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna were announced as this year's winners for their work on the technology of genome editing, reports BBC.

Their discovery, known as Crispr-Cas9, is a way of making specific and precise changes to the DNA contained in living cells.

The winners will share the prize money of 10 million kronor (£861,200).

Swedish industrialist and chemist Alfred Nobel founded the prizes in his will, written in 1895 - a year before his death.

Commenting on the discovery, biological chemist Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, said: "The ability to cut DNA where you want has revolutionised the life sciences."

Previous winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

2019 - John B Goodenough, M Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino share the prize for their work on lithium-ion batteries.

2018 - Discoveries about enzymes earned Frances Arnold, George P Smith and Gregory Winter the prize

2017 - Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson were awarded the prize for improving images of biological molecules

2016 - Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Fraser Stoddart and Bernard Feringa shared the prize for the making machines on a molecular scale.

2015 - Discoveries in DNA repair earned Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar the award.

2014 - Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell and William Moerner were awarded the prize for improving the resolution of optical microscopes.

2013 - Michael Levitt, Martin Karplus and Arieh Warshel shared the prize, for devising computer simulations of chemical processes.

2012 - Work that revealed how protein receptors pass signals between living cells and the environment won the prize for Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka.