“Tremendous amounts of talent are being lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt”
-Shirley Chisholm
Women have been oppressed to keep silence and to hide the amazing intelligence in the stem field because they are “Women”. In recent centuries, many scientists show the potential that women can change the world. Science has no gender. Science exists for the world and every living and nonliving thing. The society had established the barrier against gender to enter the field, not Science. We all have right to show our potential and to contribute our intelligence.
"Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna have discovered one of gene technology's sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors. Using these, researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants, and microorganisms with extremely high precision. "This technology has had a revolutionary impact on the life sciences which contribute to new cancer therapies and may make the dream of curing inherited diseases come true" (Nobel Foundation). The Nobel Foundation announced the 2020 Nobel Prize in the Chemistry field in October 2020. The announcement was awarded by Professor Goöran K. Hansson, Secretary-General of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is two intelligent women: Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna.
Who is Emmanuelle Charpentier?
Emmanuelle Charpentier was born on December 11, 1968, in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France. Emmanuelle's interest in Biology began with an interest in Music. Although she chose the biology field to start her own journey, music became a wonderful inspiration and creative motivation. She says, "Art and Music have had a significant influence on my scientific career: you need to be rigorous, but you also need to be able to let yourself go" (Charpentier). However, the energy to begin the scientific journey was inspired by the bacterial research finding, and she began putting her enthusiasm into a postdoctoral position in New York. Charpentier began researching skin development and how microorganisms trigger skin infections, using carried out research mice. About a few years later, she moved back to Europe and expanded her intelligent and passionate focus in Microorganisms, Immunobiology, Genetics, and general Biology. In 2018, Emmanuelle Charpentier founded the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens (MPUSP) in Berlin to strengthen and enhance the research on bacteria and viruses, pathogens that cause diseases in humans. The scientists with Charpentier enthusiastically found how RNAs and proteins control cellular processes on transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Consequently, in 2020, the Nobel Prize acknowledged the miraculous discovery: "the new gene technology method: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors" (Nobel Prize).
What are CRISPR/Cas9 genetic Scissors?
The CRISPR/Cas9 genetic Scissors is a new genetic editing tool made of enzymes and RNA. The genetic Scissors can split the genome with genetic information, and the cleaved space can obtain the new part of the genome with different information or switch the genes. The genetic Scissors can function with extreme precision by measuring sequence and finding an accurate location to use the tool. In the medical field, many genetic diseases and general diseases, such as various types of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and viral infections, use the tool to identify the genetic flaw or critical point and alleviate the severity by inserting new genetic information. Moreover, Precise medicine, which enables individualized medicine by the different levels of the organism's function and constitutional condition, can be engrafted with the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic Scissors, accompanied with the New Generation Sequencing, NGS. Claes Gustafsson, the Nobel Committee for Chemistry chair, once mentioned, "There is enormous power in this genetic tool, which affects us all. It has not only revolutionized basic science but also resulted in innovative crops and will lead to ground-breaking new medical treatments" (Gustafsson).
How do Genetic Scissors work?
The Genetic Scissors function by the Cas9 enzyme. Cas9 enzyme works as a pair of "scissors'' which has the ability to cleave two strands of DNA at an intended precise location. The Genetic Scissors performance is based on the gene-editing that changes the DNA strand's information by switching the part of the target DNA strand with a DNA-cutting enzyme. Every part of the DNA strand has distinct information and function. Scientists tend to cause mutation in the DNA targeting to observe the difference in change which allows them to recognize the specific functions of the target gene. For a long time, scientists had few ways to cause the mutation, such as causing mutation by radiation or chemicals. However, the mutation caused by the radiation and chemicals cannot control the targeting part of the mutation events. The process consumes tremendous time and is very expensive. Compared to the traditional ways, the Cas9 genetic scissors enable the process faster and more inexpensively.
Genetic scissors with Cas9 enzyme and tracrRNA & gRNA protect humans from infection, genetic diseases, and other general diseases in the medical field. For example, the trans-activating CRISPR RNA can protect humans from certain bacterial infection types by the protein in the immune system, which attacks the DNA of viruses and cuts the part of DNA, preventing the infection or causing symptoms.
More researchers have been proving that CRISPR-Cas9 can be used to target and modify "typos" in the three-billion-letter sequence of the human genome to treat genetic disease. A certain type of enzyme repairs the gene mutations that can cause the genetic disorder before it is expressed and an altered protein is produced. The correction of typo and the mutation by the genetic modification or editing tool reduces the high risk of the disorders and improves the probability of diagnosing specific parts of the DNA sequence. (Broad Institute).
The three main reasons that make the CRISPR-Cas9 method distinctive are efficiency, specifying a target, and multi-tasking. Compared to other genetic editing tools, the CRISPR-Cas9 does not need a pair with separate cutting enzymes. Although CRISPR is not paired, the CRISPR-Cas9 can cut the DNA strands itself. The CRISPR-Cas9 enables targeting the specific location with the guide RNA (gRNA) sequence because the gRNA sequences already created the many extended sequences to reach. Moreover, the CRISPR-Cas9 is less time-consuming because the CRISPR-Cas9 can reach multiple genes simultaneously instead of working with individual DNA sequences one by one.
By targeting and editing skills, the CRISPR-Cas9 inspires researchers in various fields. CRISPR-Cas9 can help create the models of animal or human organisms for the stimulation, leading to the faster diagnosis and provoking the research in many diseases like cancer or even mental illness. The CRISPR-Cas9 has been spreading worldwide to observe and research for more accurate and efficient processes in using the method like Feng Zhang's team who pioneered the microbial world's development CRISPR-Cas9 system in the function of eukaryotic cells.
Bibliography
Emmanuelle Charpentier. (2017, February 07). Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://www.mpg.de/10729312/emmanuelle-charpentier
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2020/press-release/
N. (n.d.). NobelPrize 2020 [Digital image]. Retrieved March 18, 2021, from https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2020/10/chemistry-2020-figure3-en.pdf
Questions and answers about CRISPR. (2018, August 04). Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://www.broadinstitute.org/what-broad/areas-focus/project-spotlight/questions-and-answers-about-crispr
On CRISPR-CAS9. (2018, December 10). Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://www.emmanuelle-charpentier-lab.org/research/on-crispr-cas-9/
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