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Emmanuelle Charpentier — one of three scientists credited with starting the gene editing revolution — willingly turned her life over to science. For 25 years, she was a scientific nomad, working at nine institutions in five countries, scrambling for research funds, paid so little she barely scraped by. Now, at 47, with her gene editing discovery, her life has changed.
The process involves a bacterial system, Crispr/cas9, that can be used to add or delete genes in any type of cell. The discovery has sparked a scientific revolution with a seemingly endless list of applications.
Dr. Charpentier would like to see it used, for instance, to remove the mutated gene in blood cells of people with sickle cell disease and to replace it with a normal gene, curing the disease. Other uses include making insect pests unable to reproduce and plants that naturally resist disease.
Dr. Charpentier, now a scientific superstar, was appointed director of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin and is a founder of two biotech companies.
Read full, original post: Emmanuelle Charpentier’s Still-Busy Life After Crispr
