PRESS RELEASE
Paris, April 13, 2026
From CRISPR-Cas9 to the economy: from Nobel to Nobel
A special session at the French Academy of Medicine
Paris, april 13, 2026
From CRISPR-Cas9 to the economy: from Nobel to Nobel
A special session at the French Academy of Medicine
7 April 2026 – French Academy of Medicine
On April 7, the French Academy of Medicine hosted a special session marked by the presence of Emmanuelle Charpentier, the third French woman to win a Nobel Prize – the one in Chemistry in 2020 – and Philippe Aghion, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2025.
Following an introduction by the Honorary President Bernard Charpentier, who outlined the journey of these ‘molecular scissors’, capable of precisely cutting and modifying DNA within the genome, Emmanuelle Charpentier described her international scientific career. Her PhD at the Pasteur Institute, her experience at several American institutions, and then her return to Europe (Sweden and Germany), where she now heads the Max Planck Institute for Pathogen Sciences in Berlin. She outlined the steps that led to the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas-9 genetic scissors.
Nathalie Cartier-Lacave, a member of the French Academy of Medicine, (highlighted) underlined the opportunities presented by this breakthrough and the hopes it raises for the treatment of hereditary (conditions) diseases and the development of new anti-cancer immunotherapies.
In the second part of the event, introduced by Arnold Migus, a graduate of the École Polytechnique and member of the French Academy of Medicine, Philippe Aghion passionately presented his analysis of Europe’s technological decline in the light of Schumpeter’s theory of ‘creative destruction’. He underlined (highlighted) the links between growth, innovation and competition.
Pierre Le Coz (brought this special session to a close with his ethical reflections on these innovations.
The session concluded with the presentation of the titles of Honorary Member, a rare and prestigious distinction of our Academy, to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Philippe Aghion by Christian Boitard the Permanent Secretary.
ACADÉMIE NATIONALE DE MÉDECINE
16 rue Bonaparte – 75006 Paris / Tél. : +33 (0)1 42 34 57 70
Site : www.academie-medecine.fr
Bull Acad Natl Med 2026;210:pp-pp. [En ligne] Disponible sur : URL
