In high school, Doudna was greatly inspired by her chemistry teacher Jeanette Wong. She was a new teacher at Hilo High when Doudan was in her class. Doudna says that “Miss Wong was big,” and that “she showed me that science is about answering questions, not memorizing facts.”. In a 2018 interview after winning the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience, she also said that “[Miss Wong] taught us that science is about discovery...It’s about asking questions about the natural world and coming up with ways to figure out answers, and I absolutely love that….It’s not without frustration, for sure, but that’s part of the process, and it’s something that I learned when I was in that chemistry class.” Miss Wong would later go on to be the first biology teacher to introduce the AP biology course to Hawaii island and be voted biology teacher of the year by the National Association of Biology Teachers. Unfortunately, Miss Wong died of cancer on While Jeanette Wong may no longer be with us, Jennifer Doudna’s work has inspired and enabled many students at her undergraduate school, Pomona College, to continue their studies. The relatively low cost of CRISPR technologies means that it is accessible to a larger number of students, particularly undergraduates giving them many more opportunities to explore these fields of science. Being a part of the school where Doudna was an undergraduate student has also inspired many of the current students. One student, Giselle De La Torre Pinedo, said “It was super cool,... Afterwards people were going up to talk to her, but we were able to have a special little interaction because we were Pomona students.” in reference to meeting Jennifer Doudna at a speech at King’s College. Sources:
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AuthorMy name is Nathan Eberhart. I have a curious mind and am a creative thinker with an interest in biomedical engineering and medical devices. Archives
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