CRISPR-Cas is a powerful molecular tool for changing the code of life. Jennifer Doudna and her team focus on developing novel CRISPR-Cas technologies and using them to study molecular mechanisms of disease. Their goal is to establish first-of-their-kind approaches to treat disease by cutting out or modifying harmful DNA.

Current research in Doudna’s lab focuses on discovering and characterizing novel CRISPR-Cas-related proteins, developing genome-editing tools for use in vitro and in vivo, and using CRISPR technology to better understand the genetics of certain cancers like glioblastoma. New discoveries in this field continue at a rapid pace, revealing a technology that has widespread applications.

Disease Areas

Cancer
Infectious Diseases
Neurodegenerative Diseases

Areas of Expertise

Biochemistry and Structural Biology
CRISPR and Genome Editing
Working in the Doudna lab

Lab Focus

Elucidating the mechanisms underlying CRISPR–Cas immunity in bacterial cells, especially the functions of the various Cas proteins discovered so far.
Developing and applying novel CRISPR-based tools toward applications in biotechnology, diagnostics, neurodegenerative diseases, and other diseases.
Understanding the mechanisms controlling translation—the reading of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) into proteins—with a focus on factors that regulate mRNA accessibility and on the inhibition of pathogens’ RNA translation by interferon during infection.

Research Impact

Doudna and her colleagues rocked the research world in 2012 by describing a simple way of editing the DNA of any organism using an RNA-guided protein found in bacteria. This technology, called CRISPR-Cas9, has opened the floodgates of possibility for human and non-human applications of gene editing, including assisting researchers in the fight against HIV, sickle cell disease, and muscular dystrophy. While it was possible to modify cells’ genomes prior to CRISPR-Cas9, this platform has revolutionized genetic engineering by its simplicity, versatility, and precision. Doudna’s lab continues to refine the technology by investigating the mechanisms of action of various bacterial Cas proteins, with an eye to adapting their findings toward specific applications in biotechnology or medicine.

 

Professional Titles

Senior Investigator

Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes

Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences, UC Berkeley

Professor, Departments of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley

Faculty Scientist, Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

President, Innovative Genomics Institute

Bio

Jennifer Doudna is a senior investigator at Gladstone Institutes. She is also the Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair and a professor in the Departments of Chemistry and of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley, as well as an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is the president of the Innovative Genomics Institute.

Her co-discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 genetic engineering technology, with collaborator, French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier, has changed human and agricultural genomics research forever. This genome-editing technology enables scientists to change or remove genes quickly, with a precision only dreamed of just a few years ago. Labs worldwide have re-directed the course of their research programs to incorporate this new tool, creating a CRISPR revolution with huge implications across biology and medicine. 

In addition to her scientific achievements and eminence, Doudna is also a leader in public discussion of the ethical and other implications of genome editing for human biology and societies, and advocates for thoughtful approaches to the development of policies around the use of CRISPR-Cas9. 

Doudna was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Charpentier, for the development of a method for genome editing, CRISPR-Cas9. She has also received many other prizes for her discoveries, including the Japan Prize (2016), the Kavli Prize (2018), and the LUI Che Woo Welfare Betterment Prize (2019). In 2015, Doudna was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

How Did You Get Your Start in Science?

“As a young student, my father got me a copy of the book, The Double Helix by James Watson. This telling of the mystery and discovery of science captured my imagination.”

Jennifer Doudna, PhD

Honors and Awards

2023 National Inventors Hall of Fame

2023 Distinguished Medical Science Award, Friends of the National Library of Medicine

2023 Honorary Doctorate of Science, Harvard University

2021 Honorary Doctorate in Science, University of Chicago

2021 Alma Dea Morani Renaissance Woman Award, the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation

2021 Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics, The Association for Molecular Pathology

2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

2020 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science

2020 Wolf Prize in Medicine, The Wolf Foundation

2019 Microbiology Society Prize Medal, Scotland

2019 Harvey Prize, Technion, Israel

2019 Nierenberg Prize, Scripps Oceanographic Institute

2019 Lui Che Woo Welfare Betterment Prize

2019 Honorary Doctorate in Science, Oxford University

2019 Honorary Doctorate in Science, York University

2019 Honorary Doctorate in Science, Bates College

2018 Honorary Doctorate of Science, University of Southern California

2018 American Cancer Society Medal of Honor

2018 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience, Norway

2018 V de Vida Award, Spain

2018 Croonian Medal, Royal Society

2018 National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences

2018 Gustavus John Esselen Award for Chemistry, Northeastern Sec Amer Chemical Society

2018 Lila & Murray Gruber Memorial Cancer Research Award, American Academy of Dermatology

2018 Dickson Prize in Science, Carnegie Mellon University

2018 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, Rockefeller University

2017 Honorary Doctorate of Science, Hong Kong University

2017 Honorary Doctorate of Science, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

2017 Genius 100 Award, Canada

2017 George R. Stibitz Computer & Communications Pioneer Award

2017 The Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer Award

2017 Golden Plate Award, International Achievement Organization

2017 Albert Einstein Foundation Award

2017 Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award, The American Association for Clinical Chemistry

2017 Albany Medical Center Prize

2017 BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award, Spain

2017 F.A. Cotton Medal, The Texas A&M Section of the American Chemical Society

2017 The Japan Prize, Japan Prize Foundation

2017 Luminary Award, Precision Medicine World Conference

2017 Fellow, American Association for Cancer Research

2016 Honorary Doctorate of Science, Yale University

2016 Honorary Doctorate of Science, York University

2016 Heineken Prize, Netherlands

2016 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science, Taiwan

2016 Paul Allen Distinguished Investigator

2016 Canada Gairdner Prize, Canada

2016 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, Harvard Medical School

2016 Nakasone Award, Human Frontier Science Program

2016 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, Germany

2016 L’Oreal-UNESCO International Prize for Women in Science

2015 Honorary Doctorate of Science, University of Leuven

2015 Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities Award

2015 Charles Butcher Award, University of Colorado

2015 Massry Prize, UCLA/USC

2015 Gruber Prize in Genetics

2015 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research

2015 International Society for Transgenic Technologies Prize

2015 Time 100, Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world

2015 Fellow, American Society for Microbiology

2014 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

2014 Member, National Academy of Inventors

2014 Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers

2014 Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award in Biotechnology and Medicine

2014 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research

2014 Member, National Academy of Inventors

2014 Lurie Prize, Foundation for the NIH

2013 BayBio Pantheon Award

2013 Hans Neurath Award, Protein Society

2013 Mildred Cohn Award, ASBMB

2010 Member, National Academy of Medicine

2008 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science

2007 The Nucleic Acid Group Award, NACON VII, Sheffield, UK

2003 Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

2002 Member, National Academy of Sciences

2000 Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, American Chemical Society

2000 Jean Francois LeFevre Memorial Lectureship, CNRS, Strasbourg, France

2000 R.B. Woodward Visiting Professorship, Harvard University

2000 Alan T. Waterman Award, National Science Foundation

1999 National Academy of Sciences Award for Initiatives in Research

1996 Johnson Foundation Prize for Innovative Research

Publications

Contact

Jennifer Doudna
Email
415.734.4817


Lab Members

Alisha Baldwin
Research Associate I
Ron Boger, MSE
Collaborator
Alison Ciling
Visiting Researcher
Jennifer Doudna, PhD
Senior Investigator
Christof Fellmann, PhD
Affiliate Investigator
Abhi Mahil
Student Intern
Wayne Ngo, PhD
Visiting Postdoc
Jason Nomburg, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Nate Price
Visiting Researcher
Muhammad Abdullah Syed, PhD
Visiting Scientist
I-Li Tan, PhD
Visiting Scientist
Marena Trinidad
Visiting Researcher
Wayne Xue
Graduate Student
Peter Yoon
Affiliate
Karen Zhu
Research Associate II