Bini Dahal

Science has always been stereotyped as a field of study where men are considered better than women. This formula can be explained by a number of males who are involved in many scientific researches. Even in a situation as such, the recent announcement made by the Nobel Prize Committee has brought a streak of hope for change among everyone.
For the year 2020, the Noble Prize Committee has awarded two professors, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Anne Doudna, for their big contribution to the field of chemistry. Charpentier is a French biochemist, microbiologist and geneticist while Doudna is an American biochemist. They discovered “Crispr-Case9” genetic scissors which can be highly useful in making particular changes to the DNA of a living cell. This is indeed a revolutionary finding as this tool has contributed in many discoveries in basic researches. This achievement is expected to help treat acquired diseases.
On being one of the first two women to share the prize, Professor Charpentier was quoted as saying: "I wish that this will provide a positive message specifically for young girls who would like to follow the path of science... and to show them that women in science can also have an impact with the research they are performing.”
This is indeed a big innings for women scientists as a whole as in the history of the world’s most prestigious prize. The two women have received the prominent award without sharing it with a man. And as Professor Charpentier rightly stated, this victory can be a great form of motivation for upcoming generations of girls and women to come forward with their creative and innovative ideas that can make a difference in the lives of people.
Not just in the field of chemistry and science as a whole, the two great women are a source of inspiration for all the women around the world. Despite having known that male and female differ from one another in terms of the biological structure only, it is quite difficult for most people to process the fact that women can do much more than men in many areas of life. Also, most expect them to be more proficient in household chores than in their career. So, any big achievement that is more expected from the side of men, when comes from women, it may become a big surprise for many.
Every human being, be it male or female, has his/her share of ability to perform. Though situations and narrow-minded thinking can cause prejudice against women in general, more than caring about gender, it is high time we focussed more on humans as a whole. But before doing that, the inequality that is prevalent between the two genders has to be minimised and made zero. Only in this way, can we stop the tendency of using gender as a factor to judge people’s capabilities.
We need to continuously encourage our girls and women to come forward and not fear the dos and don’ts prepared by the society hundreds of years ago. They need to be made to realise that courage, hard work and motivation are the three main ingredients for their success. Barriers like gender-based inequality and stereotyping can be put to a full-stop through the encouragement and support we can provide to them. Let’s hope for a future when a woman’s success will be accepted with a nonchalant attitude, as seen in most men’s winning!