Jennifer Doudna

“Studying how bacteria fight viral infections may sound like a niche area of biology, and it was,”

“What if I could become a scientist who worked on discovering things about the natural world, maybe things no one had ever known before?”

“I loved the process of discovery,”

“But this curiosity-driven research led in directions that none of us anticipated at the start of the project.”

“I ended up getting a full scholarship, you know, so that kind of settled the question.”

“I certainly didn't start out in my career thinking I'm doing this to win prizes.”

“I deeply love Hawaii. I love the culture there. It's a very special place,”

“I felt totally unprepared and totally over my head,”

“Everybody else seemed to be a lot more sophisticated than me. . . . I had grown up in such a different place.”

“they had a biochemistry course, and they just hired a new professor in biochemistry,”