"It was difficult for Emmanuel Charpentier to publish because no one was interested in infectious diseases as long as there was no epidemic"

This is what Prof. Harmona Sorek from the Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University says in an interview with the Scientist website, who is happy about the decision to award Emmanuel Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna the Wolf Prize last year. Now Charpentier is establishing the Max Planck Institute for Infectious Diseases in Berlin with high budgets, and is also contributing to corona research

"Emmanuel Charpentier, one of the two winners of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, had a difficult time publishing because no one was interested in infectious diseases as long as there was no epidemic." This is what Prof. Harmona Sorek from the Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University says in an interview with the Scientist website, who is happy with the decision of the Wolff Prize Committee a few months ago to award Emmanuel Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna with the Wolff Prize.

It should be noted that the Wolff Prize was announced many months before the Nobel announcement, since after winning the Nobel Prize it is forbidden to compete for the Wolff Prize.

"This is a collaboration between two researchers. Emmanuel Charpentier is a specialist in infectious diseases. According to her, she was not treated that much, because no one treats infectious diseases if there is no epidemic. She failed to publish in important journals and failed to win important research grants."

Charpentier discovered an immune mechanism that bacteria use to protect themselves from viruses. The discovery became important when she developed a collaboration with an American researcher named Jennifer Dowdana who is an expert in genetic engineering in cells of mammalian origin. The two together managed to show that it is possible to copy the immune mechanism of the bacteria into human cells as well. The development immediately became a technology of medical significance. Suddenly it is possible, for example, to delete harmful mutations. They applied for a patent. At the same time, the Broad Institute in Boston immediately realized how important this was. They ran a parallel project and applied for a patent, and to this day there is a patent fight between the research institute from Boston and the University of Berkeley where Doudna works."

Another interesting point about the technology that sparked interest was a publication by a Chinese researcher, He Jiankui from the University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, at a scientific conference in which he announced that he had performed genetic editing in seven pairs of embryos during fertility treatments, which led to one successful pregnancy. According to him, his goal was not to cure or prevent a hereditary disease, but to give fetuses immunity against the AIDS virus. The fear is that the technology is not yet ripe for use in humans because its effects are not fully known, it may have really solved the problem and given them immunity from contracting AIDS but may have caused other damages that will be known in the future. The Chinese authorities disowned him and even imprisoned him. This case makes it clear how important it is to be careful with these new technologies. In this context, Doudna is also very involved in committees that take care of the rights of people who will use the technology on them.

After recognizing the importance of the tool based on her research, Charpentier received an offer, which she happily accepted, to head the Max Planck Institute for Infectious Diseases in Berlin, which is a great opportunity for her to develop all the technologies she is an expert in with the resources of the Max Planck Institute. She now has the opportunity to flourish in the application of the expertise she has acquired."

Is Crisper used to fight Corona?

Charpentier and Daudena are involved in several projects of companies that develop these technologies to fight Corona. Among other things, they develop a home test, so that everyone can check in the morning that they are not infected and go quietly to work. And of course we need to adopt the protection not only against this virus but also against other viruses."

In conclusion, Prof. Sorek says: "CRISPR is an amazing discovery, but its development needs to be tested at every stage to ensure that no mistakes are made as a result of using the technology."

More of the topic in Hayadan:

• Nobel laureate Prof. Dan Shechtman: "Penrose has an indirect connection to my discovery" The winners in chemistry developed an "explosive" in biology
• The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the scientists who developed the CRISPR "genetic numbers" immediately after the Wolf award
• The Crisper keys win the 2020 Wolf Prize in Medicine - the reasons for the prize committee