So how cool is that? 1981 Hilo High graduate, Jennifer Doudna, recently won a coveted Nobel Prize in chemistry for her work (along with Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Charpentier) in creating what are known as “molecular scissors”, processes that allow for gene-editing which, one day, could lead to helping cure diseases and fix genetic disorders.
Far too often we overlook great achievements of local public schools and their noted graduates. Jason Scott Lee, Daniel Inouye, David Ige, Bruno Mars, Mark Takai, Daniel Inouye, George Ariyoshi, Hiram Fong, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Tammy Duckworth, Ellison Onizuka, Willie K., Bette Midler, Patsy Mink, Sid Fernandez, Keali`i Reichel, Ben Cayetano, Russ Francis, Andy Bumatai, Bryan Clay, Kalani Pea… the local public school “well-known” list of achievers is seemingly endless. High school is not always a place that provides a catalyst or acts as a driver to a fulfilling and noted career, but it can help pave the way with the right teacher(s), internal drive, hard-work, and some loving encouragement at home.
Doudna went on to Pomona College and then Harvard after leaving Hilo High. In the science “small world” department this month, her Nobel win on October 7 came one day after UCLA astronomer, Andrea Ghez, was a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in physics for her work studying Milky Way black holes (no, not the chocolate bars). Much of that work over the past 25-years has been done looking through telescopes at Mauna Kea’s Keck Observatory. Imagine that- Hawai`i and two accomplished women are arguably at the center of the science universe this month!
Adding to Doudna’s outstanding Nobel accomplishment is the fact that only five women previously had won or shared the Chemistry prize out of 184 nominees. Perhaps this year’s award given to a local, public school grad will provide a spark or some impetus to other inquisitive local minds (female or male) at an impressionable age. All it takes sometimes is a nudge, a gentle push in the right direction. The right teacher, the right mentor, the right moment. In high school, the right teacher promoted Doudna’s scientific curiosity and said she should do it, she could do it. And Doudna did it- and then some! Now, her Nobel Prize work could be the catalyst to great medical breakthroughs in the years ahead. One breakthrough (at Hilo High) leading to perhaps many more- a prize-winning story.
Think about it…