Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Portrait for @tom
by @tom
2020-10-08T19:00:02+00:00
Science
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 awarded for the gene editing method CRISPR/Cas9
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 awarded for the gene editing method CRISPR/Cas9
Credit: NIH Image Gallery from Bethesda, Maryland, USA / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to the Frenchwoman Emanuelle Charpentier and the US-American Jennifer Doudna for the development of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene scissors. This was announced by the Nobel Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy on Wednesday afternoon in Stockholm.

The two scientists developed the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors that enable the quick and precise editing of genes.

Claes Gustafsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, has stated that "there is enormous power in this genetic tool, which affects us all. It has not only revolutionised basic science, but also resulted in innovative crops and will lead to ground-breaking new medical treatments,".

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by @christoph
2020-10-06T12:00:02+00:00
Science • Space
Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 goes to three black hole researchers
Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 goes to three black hole researchers
Credit: Event Horizon Telescope / Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0)

Half of this year's Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Roger Penrose (UK) and the other half to Reinhard Genzel (Germany)and Andrea Ghez (USA) for their "discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy". This was announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on Tuesday. Reinhard Genzel is director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching near Munich.