Jennifer Doudna: Scientist and World Changer
The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss
Lawrence M. Krauss
4.4 • 592 Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2025
⏱️ 87 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jennifer Doudna changed the world. She didn’t do it intentionally. She pursued her curiosity about the structure and functioning of RNA as a research scientist, one who had been trained by some of the most impactful geneticists at the time, including two Nobel laureates. In the process, however, she and her collaborators discovered a genetic tool that has dwarfed all others for its potential to change both the human condition, but also what it may mean to be human. I am referring of course to CRISPR, the tool that Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier helped develop and for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize.
In our in-depth conversation we covered the scientific origins of Jennifer’s discoveries, and some of their possible implications. In a time when there is a misplaced notion that support for scientific research needs to be applied directly for certain goal-oriented activities, it is refreshing to have such a clear example of the benefits of fundamental research for our society, along with the need to prepare our minds for the possibilities of the future. It is exactly what the Origins Podcast, and the Origins Project Foundation are designed to highlight—the joy, benefits, and challenges of human intellectual inquiry for our society and our future. It was a pleasure and privilege to spend 90 minutes discussing these issues with this world-renowned biochemist and advocate for science.
Our conversation was both a tutorial about modern genetics, and also an opportunity to discuss issues that society as a whole will have address as we come to grips with the new power of science in this century. With great power comes great responsibility, and I hope discussions such as the one I had with Jennifer will provoke and enlighten. Enjoy.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi and welcome to the Origins Podcast. |
| 0:11.2 | I'm your host, Lawrence Krause. |
| 0:13.2 | In this episode, I had the long-awaited pleasure, finally, of having Jennifer Dowdna on the program. |
| 0:20.5 | Jennifer won the Nobel Prize, along with Emmanuel Charpentier, for discovering CRISPR, a technique |
| 0:28.2 | of gene editing technique that's revolutionizing biology and offers the promise of being able to edit |
| 0:33.8 | the human genome in ways that can cure disease and potentially do some things that |
| 0:38.7 | may sound dangerous like great designer babies. It's an important tool and it's changing |
| 0:45.1 | not just biology but the way we may think about ourselves as human beings. And it's therefore |
| 0:50.9 | important for society. And in order to understand it, |
| 0:54.5 | it's important to understand the science. |
| 0:55.9 | So what I wanted to do with Jennifer |
| 0:57.5 | was talk about her own experience of discovery, |
| 1:00.8 | which was based on curiosity-driven research |
| 1:03.0 | and not an effort to actually solve the problem |
| 1:05.6 | of how to add the human genome, |
| 1:07.4 | but also involved serendipity, many aspects of science that are really important. |
| 1:13.6 | So I wanted to use her discoveries in microcosm to understand science and then to discuss |
| 1:19.6 | the background behind the important questions that the important ethical questions that |
| 1:25.6 | CRISPR raises. And we had a wonderful discussion of an explanation of biology, of CRISPR, |
| 1:31.3 | and her own experiences, both in the lab and outside the lab. |
| 1:36.3 | It was fascinating for me. I knew it would be. |
| 1:40.3 | It was a wonderful discussion, and she was great. |
... |
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