Jennifer Doudna Family Tree: The Story Behind CRISPR-Cas9's Nobel Laureate

Jennifer Anne Doudna, born 19 February 1964 in Washington, D.C., USA (raised in Hilo, Hawaii), won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (with Emmanuelle Charpentier) for the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system — the first time two women shared a science Nobel.

The Family's Roots: A Hawaii Academic Family

The Doudna family is an academic family that moved from Washington, D.C. to Hilo, Hawaii, when Jennifer was 7.

Her Parents

Father: Martin Doudna — University of Hawaii at Hilo English literature professor.

Mother: Dorothy Jane Williams Doudna — community college instructor (history).

Her Sisters

Sarah Doudna — Jennifer's elder sister.

Ellen Doudna — Jennifer's younger sister.

Her Husband: Jamie Cate

Jamie Cate — biochemist; UC Berkeley professor; Jennifer's husband.

Their Son

Andrew "Andy" Cate, born 2000 — son.

The Doudna Family Tree at a Glance

Family Origins: D.C.-born, Hilo (Big Island) Hawaii-raised; academic family.

Father: Martin Doudna — University of Hawaii English professor.

Mother: Dorothy Jane Williams Doudna — community college history instructor.

Sisters: Sarah Doudna; Ellen Doudna.

Husband: Jamie Cate — UC Berkeley biochemist.

Son: Andrew "Andy" Cate (b. 2000).

Jennifer Doudna:

  • Born 19 February 1964, Washington, D.C.
  • Pomona College (BA Biochemistry 1985); Harvard Medical School (PhD Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology 1989)
  • Postdoc with Jack Szostak (Harvard) and Thomas Cech (Colorado)
  • Faculty: Yale (1994–2002); UC Berkeley (from 2002)
  • CRISPR-Cas9 breakthrough: 2012 paper in Science with Emmanuelle Charpentier
  • Nobel Prize in Chemistry: 2020 (shared with Charpentier)
  • Founded the Innovative Genomics Institute at UC Berkeley
  • Co-founder of multiple CRISPR companies (Caribou Biosciences, Editas Medicine, Intellia Therapeutics)
  • A Crack in Creation (2017) — book on CRISPR and ethics

What the Doudna Family Story Teaches Us

An English-professor father at a Pacific island university. A history-instructor mother. Two sisters. A biochemist husband. A son. A career that produced the most-revolutionary biotechnology of the 21st century — CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing.

For every family — large or small, famous or otherwise — the Doudna story carries the same lesson. Sometimes academic households at distant universities produce world-changing scientists. The Hilo upbringing is on the Doudna family record alongside the Nobel medal. Write down which environments shaped which children. Geography is part of the family record.

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