Caricature of Emmanuel Charpentier (left, born 1968), French microbiologist and geneticist and Jennifer Doudna, American biochemist. Charpentier and Doudna Charpentier are best known for their work on the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing molecule. CRISPR/Cas9 is used by bacteria to recognise and destroy a viral pathogen's DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). Together, they adapted the system so that it was able to recognise any given DNA sequence and use it to edit any genome. Charpentier and Doudna were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work, the first two women to share the award.