Who Won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, specifically regarding the recipients and the omission of certain researchers, particularly focusing on the contributions of Jennifer A. Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier in relation to CRISPR technology.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note the absence of a Nobel Prize for Siksnys, suggesting that his contributions to CRISPR have been overlooked.
  • One participant references an article discussing Siksnys's work and its similarities to that of the awarded researchers, highlighting the importance of tracrRNA in sequence-specific cleavage of target DNA.
  • Another participant mentions a documentary titled "Human Nature" as a good introduction to CRISPR, indicating interest in broader public understanding of the topic.
  • There is a repeated emphasis on the fact that another couple of biologists have won the Chemistry Prize, which raises questions about the selection process and recognition of contributions in the field.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express disagreement regarding the recognition of Siksnys's contributions, with some feeling he should have been included among the laureates, while others focus on the awarded researchers without addressing this point directly. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the implications of these omissions.

Contextual Notes

There are references to specific findings and contributions related to CRISPR technology, but the discussion does not clarify the full scope of each researcher’s work or the criteria for Nobel Prize selection.

DrClaude
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TL;DR
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 was awarded jointly to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna "for the development of a method for genome editing."
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Chemistry news on Phys.org
No prize for Siksnys?
 
because his part in the discovery of CRISPR often has been overlooked
crispr-researcher-wins-spotlight]From a 2018 article[/url] - about a prize awarded to him and the two (now) Nobel Prize winners.
Nature has a similar article
 
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biochemist Jennifer A. Doudna(below left) and microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier (below right):

Screen Shot 2020-10-07 at 11.06.53 PM.png
 
Netflix "Human Nature" I though was a good intro (non-tech) documentary on CRISPR.
 
atyy said:
No prize for Siksnys?

Here's what the Nobel Prize website's advanced infomation PDF has to say about Siksnys's work:
Similar findings were also published in another report using the related CRISPR-Cas system in Streptococcus thermophilus. As in Charpentier and Doudna’s work, this report also demonstrated that Cas9 cleaves within the protospacer, that cleavage specificity is directed by the crRNA sequence, and that the two nuclease domains within Cas9, each cleave one strand. However, the researchers did not notice the crucial importance of tracrRNA for sequence-specific cleavage of target DNA [29].
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2020/10/advanced-chemistryprize2020.pdf
 
Another couple of biologists win the Chemistry Prize.
 
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