Nobel Prizes honor groundbreaking scientific discoveries shaping human life.

Emmanuelle Charpentier, the 2020 Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry, is a nomadic scientist who has dedicated enormous energy to the quest for CRISPR, a groundbreaking technique that allows for the cutting and replacing of pieces of DNA.

Charpentier, a French researcher, found the techniques for "tinkering" with DNA in bacteria, her specialty, alongside American biochemist Jennifer Doudna. The discovery, known as CRISPR-Cas-9, often shortened to CRISPR, has caused a shock wave beyond the circle of initiates in the same field and sparked hope and fear in the general public.

Charpentier describes herself as a workaholic and advises scientists to push their questions, even those that seem impossible to answer, and to ask themselves how far they'd like to go in their wildest dreams. She cites French biochemist Jacques Monod's quote about agitation, anxiety, dissatisfaction, and mental anguish feeding science.

However, the discovery of CRISPR has not been without controversy. An intense patent war is still raging between the two groups who developed CRISPR over the intellectual property of the technique. Charpentier expresses less concern now than 10 years ago about the potential for ethical slip-ups involving CRISPR, but she recalls an "extremely disturbing episode" involving the use of CRISPR to birth twins with edited genomes by a Chinese team.

Despite a supposedly deteriorated relationship with her Nobel laureate colleague, Jennifer Doudna, Charpentier remains enigmatic about the topic. She does suggest that the patent story for CRISPR has not hindered its development.

The technique has propelled Charpentier into many interactions with the media, the public, and other scientists. She enjoys coffee in moderation, particularly in a café setting, and has a specific routine involving green tea and coffee.

Charpentier discusses a supposed American imperialism in the appropriation of the discovery of CRISPR. She states that the impacts of CRISPR are coming faster than she had anticipated, but the big breakthroughs for patients are still awaited. Despite the questions and controversies surrounding CRISPR, Charpentier remains calm due to her knowledge of the discovery's origins and the enthusiasm of developing scientists.