Quotes by Jennifer Doudna

“With this crystal structure, weve learned that Dicer serves as a molecular ruler, with a clamp at one end and a cleaver at the other end a set distance away, that produces RNA fragments of an ideal size for gene-silencing.”

“Knowing the structure of Dicer sets the stage for understanding how Dicer enzymes are involved in other phases of the RNA interference pathway. In human cells, the evidence points to Dicer being part of a larger molecular complex that directs the RNA interference process. The core structure of Dicer has been highly conserved by evolution and could serve as a guide in redesigning the RNA molecules that direct specific gene-silencing pathways.”

“When you put the clamp, the flat area and the cleaver together, you get a pretty good idea as to how Dicer works. Were now using this structural model to design experiments that might tell us what triggers Dicer into action.”

One of the problems in the biotech world is the lack of women in leadership roles, and Id like to see that change by walking the walk.

Theres already a lot of active research going on using the Crispr technology to fix diseases like Duchenne muscular dystrophy or cystic fibrosis or Huntingtons disease. Theyre all diseases that have known genetic causes, and we now have the technology that can repair those mutations to provide, we hope, patients with a normal life.