Emmanuelle Charpentier

Emmanuelle Charpentier, a microbiologist who had moved through labs in several countries, met Jennifer Doudna at a conference in 2011, and their transatlantic collaboration produced the 2012 paper showing CRISPR-Cas9 could be programmed to cut DNA. Charpentier brought the bacterial biology; Doudna's lab brought structural biochemistry. They shared the 2020 Nobel prize in chemistry, the first time two women had shared a science Nobel without a male co-laureate.