CRISPR-Cas9 was central to the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna.
The method uses a guide RNA to direct the Cas9 enzyme to a matching DNA sequence. Cas9 cuts the DNA, after which the cell’s repair processes can disrupt a gene or, with a suitable template, make a targeted change.
CRISPR systems originated as part of bacterial immune defenses against invading genetic material. Charpentier and Doudna showed how components of the system could be adapted into a programmable gene-editing tool. Its relative simplicity and flexibility made it broadly useful in research.
CRISPR-Cas9 is a method, not a single edited organism or a disease treatment. The 2020 Nobel Prize recognized the development of genetic scissors. Other CRISPR proteins, including Cas12 and Cas13, have different target molecules or cutting properties.