Tag: Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Ghosts of Science Past: Part 1—Lise Meitner and the Discovery of Nuclear Fission

The Ghosts of Science Past: Part 1—Lise Meitner and the Discovery of Nuclear Fission

Published December 11, 2020 by savmiller

To close out this difficult year, this month’s blog series is going to look back at a few of the titans of scientific discovery from years past. This week, we return to the topic of nuclear fission with the story of Lise Meitner—an Austrian physicist who discovered the fundamental mechanism behind nuclear fission. Meitner’s story is pocked with the sexism and anti-Semitism that characterized Europe in the early 1900s. But despite the adversity she faced, Meitner made one of the most pivotal scientific discoveries of her time—one that would make nuclear power (and nuclear bombs) possible. Lise Meitner was born…

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The 2020 Nobel Prize: Part 3—Reengineering the Code of Life with CRISPR/Cas9

The 2020 Nobel Prize: Part 3—Reengineering the Code of Life with CRISPR/Cas9

Published October 30, 2020 by savmiller

After the announcement of the medicine prize and physics prize, the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for the development of the CRISPR/Cas9 method of genetic editing. We discussed the origins, development, and applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 method earlier this year, but in light of this recent award, I thought we could delve a little deeper into the discovery and implications of this technology. Given how significant and ubiquitous the CRISPR/Cas9 technology has become, it was only a matter of time before it garnered a Nobel prize, but there was some disagreement…

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