Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World no longer seems like science fiction, as UC Berkeley biochemist Jennifer Doudna’s research in CRISPR-Cas9 technology has revolutionized gene editing.
On Thursday, November 8, Doudna, co-author of A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution, spoke at UCSB’s Campbell Hall about her research and the potential social, environmental, and ethical impacts of gene editing.
As a young girl growing up in Hawaii, Doudna was first inspired to study chemistry by James Watson’s book, The Double Helix. These interests inspired her to study the molecular composition of different organisms like bacteria and how they fend off viruses. Collaborating with researchers from Sweden, Doudna analyzed how damaged DNA repaired itself, eventually leading to her discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing tool.