--- --- Apr 15, 2026 # Kiran Musunuru and Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas by [Jennifer Doudna](https://time.com/author/jennifer-doudna/) ## Jennifer Doudna  Courtesy of Penn Medicine; Courtesy of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Since its advent in 2012, CRISPR genome-editing technology has held [the potential to change medicine](https://time.com/4379503/crispr-scientists-edit-dna/). But getting from a research breakthrough to practical impacts on patients is no simple feat. In 2025, doctors Kiran Musunuru and Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas [showed](https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2026/7362523/kiran-musunuru-and-rebecca-ahrens-nicklas/) it can be done. When baby KJ was born with a rare metabolic disease, giving him a 50% chance of dying in infancy, the pair led a remarkable multi-institutional team that designed, tested, and administered a [personalized gene-editing therapy](https://time.com/7285695/first-crispr-treatment-baby/) in just six months. Baby KJ is now home with his family and recently took his first steps. This achievement goes beyond one child. Musunuru and Ahrens-Nicklas brought together innovations from across biomedical science and proved that on-demand [CRISPR therapies](https://time.com/5709388/the-gene-editing-revolution-is-already-here/) can be developed safely and quickly enough to help patients who don’t have years to wait. A decade from now, their names will be in medical textbooks, not only for baby KJ, but for opening the door to personalized genetic medicine for thousands of children after him. _Doudna is a Nobel Prize–winning biochemist and founder of the Innovative Genomics Institute_ Kiran Musunuru and Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas Is on the 2026 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/Kiran-Musunuru-and-Rebecca-Ahrens-Nicklas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/Kiran-Musunuru-and-Rebecca-Ahrens-Nicklas/"},"headline":"Kiran Musunuru and Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026","datePublished":"2026-04-15T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:42.448Z","description":"Find out why Kiran Musunuru and Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas are two of the 100 most influential people of 2026.","url":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/Kiran-Musunuru-and-Rebecca-Ahrens-Nicklas/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf41f39b7295d8248/69dfb70fffa3d7d6a80e19a1/T100-2026-Web-Kiran-Musunuru-Rebecca-Ahrens-Nicklas-social.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Doudna","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-doudna/"}],"creator":"Jennifer Doudna","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf41f39b7295d8248/69dfb70fffa3d7d6a80e19a1/T100-2026-Web-Kiran-Musunuru-Rebecca-Ahrens-Nicklas-social.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/Kiran-Musunuru-and-Rebecca-Ahrens-Nicklas/","name":"Kiran Musunuru and Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026"}}]}] ```