Elizabeth Blackburn(1948 — ?)
Elizabeth Blackburn
États-Unis, Australie
5 min read
Elizabeth Blackburn is an Australian-American molecular biologist born in 1948 in Tasmania. She discovered telomerase, the enzyme that protects the ends of chromosomes, which earned her the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born on November 26, 1948, in Hobart, Tasmania (Australia)
- In the 1970s and 1980s, she studied telomeres, the protective ends of chromosomes
- In 1984, with Carol Greider, she discovered telomerase, the enzyme that rebuilds telomeres
- Received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009, shared with Carol Greider and Jack Szostak
- Her work opened major avenues for understanding cellular aging and cancer
Works & Achievements
First molecular description of the ends of chromosomes, showing that they are made of a short repeated DNA sequence.
Identification of the enzyme that lengthens and protects telomeres, explaining how chromosomes avoid degrading with each cell division.
A major prize often regarded as the antechamber to the Nobel, honoring her work on telomeres.
Awarded with Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and telomerase.
Popular-science book linking lifestyle, stress, and cellular aging to telomere length.
Anecdotes
To study the ends of chromosomes, Elizabeth Blackburn chose a microscopic organism living in ponds: the ciliate Tetrahymena. This tiny single-celled creature has thousands of mini-chromosomes, and therefore a huge quantity of telomeres to analyze, which made it an ideal subject of study.
In 1978, together with Joseph Gall, Blackburn discovered that the ends of Tetrahymena's chromosomes are made of a short DNA sequence repeated dozens of times (TTGGGG). No one yet understood what this curious repetition at the tips of chromosomes was for.
On December 25, 1984, her doctoral student Carol Greider developed a radioactive film in the laboratory and saw for the first time the trace of an unknown enzyme: telomerase. This scientific Christmas gift would earn the two researchers, along with Jack Szostak, the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2009.
In 2004, Elizabeth Blackburn was removed from the U.S. President's Council on Bioethics after defending stem cell research. Many scientists protested, arguing that she was being dismissed for political rather than scientific reasons.
Later, Blackburn showed, together with psychologist Elissa Epel, that chronic stress appears to be linked to shorter telomeres: mothers worn down by years of caring for a seriously ill child showed accelerated cellular aging. It was an idea they popularized in a book for general readers.
Primary Sources
The researchers describe a short DNA sequence, tandemly repeated at the ends of Tetrahymena's ribosomal DNA molecules — the first molecular description of a telomere.
The paper reports the discovery of an enzyme activity able to add telomeric repeats to the ends of chromosomes: the future telomerase.
Blackburn retraces the discovery of telomeres and telomerase, and explains the protective role these structures play in genome stability.
A popular-science book in which the authors link telomere length, lifestyle, stress, and cellular aging.
Blackburn recounts her childhood in Tasmania, her early passion for animals and science, and her path from Melbourne to Cambridge and then to the United States.
Key Places
Elizabeth Blackburn's birthplace, where she grew up surrounded by animals and developed her scientific curiosity.
Where she studied biochemistry, earning her bachelor's and then master's degrees, before leaving for England.
Where she pursued her doctorate in the laboratory of Frederick Sanger, a two-time Nobel laureate in chemistry.
Blackburn's first American position, where she continued her work on the telomeres of Tetrahymena.
It was in her laboratory that telomerase was discovered in 1984 with Carol Greider.
Where she built her career as a professor and conducted her research on the links between telomeres, stress, and health.