Awarding the 2020 Nobel prize in chemistry to Emanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudner is absolutely brilliant. If ever there was a complete no-brainer it was this one.
There are several aspects that make this award amongst the best decisions the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has ever made:
The original set of articles concerning the technique were published in 2009, so the award has come fairly quickly (In my opinion the award could have been justified at least five years ago).
Both recipients are relatively young (defined as younger than me!) and therefore have time to make a greater impact on the scientific community and even on society.
Finally, and this ought not to be an issue, the award makes a small step towards addressing the inequality that has been prevalent over the past century of Nobel awards.
I take my hat off to Emanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudner for their magnificent achievement.
Topherblog 