The German National Academy of Science Leopoldina accolades Prof. Emmanuelle Charpentier, head of the Regulation in Infection Biology department of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, with the Carus-Prize for her exceptional work regarding the CRISPR-Cas9 technology.
Charpentier and her team deciphered the CRISPR-Cas9 mechanism, harnessed as a genome editing technology that allows for the specific and precise modification of the genome. This development is an important step forward compared to earlier genome-editing tools and provides a huge potential for medical research, specifically for the development of new therapies for serious genetic diseases.
In addition to her position at the HZI Charpentier holds a professorship at the Hannover Medical School and at the MIMS (Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden), Umeå University. In October 2015, she will become a director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin.
The awarded Carus-Medal honors important scientific achievements of young scientists in one of the research areas represented in the Leopoldina and is associated with the 5000 Euro endowed Carus-Prize. Together withCharpentier, the chemical physicist Prof. Hans Jakob Woerner will also be honored.
More information on the award can be found here.
