Malaysian Scientist Wins Breakthrough Prize for Gene-Editing Discovery
Quick Look
- Malaysian scientist Thein, 74, won a 2026 Breakthrough Prize for her gene-editing discovery that solved a long-standing mystery in blood disorders.
- She reminisced about her childhood in Malaysia and her adaptability from frequent family relocations.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Thein, a 74-year-old scientist working at the National Institutes of Health, won a Breakthrough Prize for her gene-editing discovery. She moved to Washington in 2015 and previously lived in various towns in Malaysia due to her father's civil service postings.
“I have not come across a Malaysian restaurant that sells good popiah. I miss it,” Thein told This Week in Asia in an exclusive interview where she fondly reminisced about her childhood in Malaysia’s coastal town of Kuantan.
Thein, the seventh of nine children, said her large family moved from town to town in then Malaya because of her father’s civil service postings.
The constant relocation taught her to adapt to ever-changing circumstances, said the 74-year-old, who works at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda and has lived in Washington since 2015.
In April, she won one of the 2026 Breakthrough Prizes, dubbed the “Oscars of science”, for work that helped turn a decades-old mystery in blood disorders into a gene-editing discovery.
Open Questions
- What specific blood disorders were addressed?
- What is the gene-editing discovery in detail?
