Stockholm (AFP)

The co-winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry, the French Emmanuelle Charpentier, confesses the ambition to one day win "a second Nobel", the feat of Marie Curie a century ago, in an interview with AFP ahead of the ceremonies Thursday.

"There is an ambition which would be to have a second Nobel Prize, of course!", Replies the researcher when asked about her objectives after having won the prestigious award at an early age - 51 years.

This motivation is based on making "another discovery", explains the French geneticist, based in Germany where she works at the Max-Planck Institute in Berlin.

In addition to Marie Curie, Nobel Prize in Physics 1903 and Chemistry 1911, three other people have two Nobel Prizes to their credit: the Americans John Bardeen (physics 1956 and 1972) and Linus Pauling (chemistry 1954 and peace 1962), as well as the Briton Frederick Sanger (chemistry 1958 and 1980).

"If I want to one day discover something new, I know that I will have to isolate myself for several years, and it is a little bit impossible at least at the moment. So that will be the + challenge +", explains Ms. Charpentier to AFP.

With the American Jennifer Doudna, she was awarded at the beginning of October the Nobel in chemistry for the invention, barely ten years ago, of "molecular scissors".

Revolutionary technology makes it possible to perform “haute couture surgery” on human, animal or plant genes.

It is the first time that a scientific prize has gone to an exclusively female duo, giving this Nobel an additional importance.

- Up to 80 years -

Although she has received a slew of prizes and distinctions since the first publication on CRISPR "scissors" in 2011, a Nobel "it nevertheless changes a life", recognizes the scientist.

"The challenge in the future for me is power (...) to contribute to my role, to be an advocate for science, for young scientists," she says.

"But I also have to be careful that I can have time to run my lab and have a little bit of time to continue doing research, that's what actually worries me the most right now! ", confesses the native of the Paris region, who intends to continue her scientific research for a long time" even at 70, 75, 80 ... "

If an online ceremony is organized Thursday afternoon in Stockholm in honor of the winners of the "Swedish" prizes (medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, economics), they have all received their medals and their diplomas. days in their country of residence, due to Covid-19.

An online ceremony is also being held Thursday from Oslo and Rome for the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to the World Food Program (WFP).

The geneticist, who received her reward on Monday in Berlin, is also delighted that vaccines against Covid-19 could have been developed so quickly.

"Scientists have a bit of a reputation for doing + science," and it takes a long time and people don't understand why it takes a long time, "she points out.

"A vaccine is generally developed in 10 to 12 years. So this is exceptional and it shows in fact how much science has also evolved to be able to combine new strategies", as the use of RNA says "messenger" for the first time for vaccines.

"Research is expensive. It's expensive, but everything around us benefits from science," insists the researcher.

“Everything is science so I hope that there is also this understanding,” she asks.

© 2020 AFP