In the past days the Nobel prizes for natural sciences were awarded. Especially pleasedWhat is unusual this year is that three women were awarded the renowned prize. zdi congratulates the winners on this special moment in theirn Careern.
Andrea Ghez: American, 55 years old, astronomer
In her research with German astronomer Reinhard Genzel, Ghez demonstrated the existence of the supermassive black hole Saggitarius A* at the center of our galaxy. They found that the stars in the center of the Milky Way orbit an object with a very high mass. According to the physical rules of the universe as we know them, objects start spinning around each other when they are affected by a much heavier object at the center of the system. Only a black hole can affect suns so strongly that they orbit the anomaly like planets in our solar system. Their work is considered to be one of the best and first pieces of evidence for the existence of black holes.
Emmanuelle Charpentier: French, 51 years old, microbiologist, geneticist and biochemist
Jennifer A. Doudna: American, 56 years old, biochemist and molecular biologist
In their research, Charpentier and Doudna discovered the CRISPR/Cas method. With this method, the DNA can be precisely cut with the Cas enzyme. This enables researchers to make targeted changes to the genetic material. Researchers hope that the method will heal cancer and hereditary diseases. The method was discovered while researching CRISPR sequences in bacteria to better understand their immune system.
To ensure that more women continue to be active in science and make groundbreaking discoveries in the future zdi with girls courses and the zdi-Heroines the researchers of tomorrow. in the zdi-Heroines October we're introducing our heroines and spotlighting the amazing work these women do. More information about the zdi-Heroines October are there here .
If you would like more detailed information about the research work of the award winners and want to read the award committee's reasoning do this here.
