STOCKHOLM — Two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing a method of genome editing likened to “molecular scissors” that offer the promise of one day curing inherited diseases and even cancer.

Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer A. Doudna developed a method known as CRISPR/Cas9 that can be used to change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision.

The recipients were announced Wednesday in Stockholm by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Charpentier told reporters from Berlin after hearing of the award that she was “very emotional.”