On 28 June 2012 Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, with Martin Jinek and colleagues, published in Science a paper showing that the bacterial defence system CRISPR-Cas9 could be reprogrammed to cut DNA at any chosen site using a short guide RNA. The tool made editing genes cheaper, quicker and more precise than any previous method, and within a few months it was used in human cells by teams including that of Feng Zhang. It has applications from crops to treatments for sickle-cell disease, approved in 2023. The two women received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Before and after
- 15 June 2012Creation of ChromeOS
- 20 June 2012Introduction of Coinbase
- 24 June 2012Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island tortoise, dies
- 26 June 2012Discovery of Styx
- 28 June 2012Doudna and Charpentier publish CRISPR gene editing
- 5 July 2012Construction of The Shard
- from 15 July 2012 to 4 August 2012Battle of Damascus
- from 19 July 2012 to 22 December 2016Battle of Aleppo
- 2 August 2012Release of Clash of Clans
More in Science & technology
- 1964Discovery of rutherfordium
- 29 October 1969Invention of Internet
- 18 February 1970Discovery of dubnium
- July 1974Discovery of seaborgium
- 1976Discovery of bohrium
- 1984Discovery of hassium
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.