OREANDA-NEWS. The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded for the development of genome editing, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Goran K. Hansson, said in Stockholm. In a press release from the Nobel Committee it is said that this year Jennifer A. Doudna from the USA and Emmanuelle Charpentier from France will receive the prize for the creation of “genetic scissors”, that is, “a tool for rewriting the code of life.”

Media note that two women at once received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the first time in history.

Nobel Week began on October 5 with the announcement of the Medicine Prize winners. They are American scientists Charles M. Rice and Harvey J. Alter, as well as Briton Michael Houghton, who received an award for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. On October 6, the Physics Prize was received by Roger Penrose from Great Britain, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez from the USA for space exploration.

On October 8, the Nobel Committee will announce the laureate of the Literature Prize. The Nobel Peace Prize winner will be named on October 9.