Carol W. Greider facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Carol W. Greider
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Greider in 2021
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| Born |
Carolyn Widney Greider
April 15, 1961 San Diego, California, U.S.
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| Education | University of California, Santa Barbara (BA) University of Göttingen University of California, Berkeley (PhD) |
| Known for | Discovery of telomerase |
| Spouse(s) |
Nathaniel C. Comfort
(m. 1993; div. 2011) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Richard Lounsbery Award (2003) Lasker Award (2006) Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2007) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2009) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Molecular biology |
| Institutions | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Johns Hopkins School of Medicine University of California, Santa Cruz |
| Thesis | Identification of a specific telomere terminal transferase activity in Tetrahymena extracts (1985) |
| Doctoral advisor | Elizabeth Blackburn |
| Other academic advisors | Beatrice M. Sweeney David J. Asai Leslie Wilson |
Carolyn Widney Greider, born on April 15, 1961, is an American scientist. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She studies tiny parts of living things, like cells and DNA.
In 1984, while studying at the University of California, Berkeley, Carol Greider made a huge discovery. She found an important enzyme called telomerase. This enzyme helps protect the ends of chromosomes, which are like tiny packages of DNA in our cells. These ends are called telomeres. Without telomerase, telomeres get shorter each time a cell divides. This can cause problems for the cell. For her discovery, Carol Greider shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with her mentor, Elizabeth Blackburn, and another scientist, Jack W. Szostak.
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Early Life and Education
Carol Greider was born in San Diego, California. Her father was a physics professor. Her family later moved to Davis, California. She finished high school there in 1979. She then went to the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 1983, she earned a degree in biology. She also studied for some time at the University of Göttingen in Germany.
Overcoming Dyslexia
Carol Greider has dyslexia. This means her brain works differently when it comes to reading and spelling. She realized this in first grade when she saw common mistakes like writing words backward. To help herself, she learned to memorize words instead of trying to sound them out.
Greider believes her dyslexia helped her become a better scientist. She says it taught her to think in different ways. It also helped her appreciate unusual ideas, like choosing to study a unique organism called Tetrahymena.
Because of her dyslexia, Greider had low scores on some tests needed for graduate school. She applied to many schools but was accepted by only two. She chose to study at the University of California, Berkeley.
Discovering Telomerase
Carol Greider earned her Ph.D. in molecular biology from Berkeley in 1987. She worked with her advisor, Elizabeth Blackburn. Together, they discovered how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
The Search for the Enzyme
In April 1984, Greider joined Blackburn's lab. They were looking for an enzyme that could add extra DNA bases to the ends of chromosomes. These extra bases are important. Without them, chromosomes get shorter every time a cell copies its DNA. This shortening can lead to cells getting old or even cause cancer.
Blackburn and Greider decided to look for this enzyme in a tiny freshwater organism. It was a protozoan called Tetrahymena thermophila. This organism was perfect because it has many telomeres.
The Big Discovery
On December 25, 1984, Carol Greider found something exciting. Her experiments showed that a specific enzyme was likely responsible for adding to the telomeres. After six more months of careful research, Greider and Blackburn confirmed it. They had found the enzyme!
They published their discovery in a science journal called Cell in December 1985. The enzyme was first called "telomere terminal transferase." Today, we know it as telomerase. Telomerase helps rebuild the tips of chromosomes. It also plays a role in how long cells can live.
Greider continued her research to understand how telomerase works. She found that a molecule called RNA was a key part of the enzyme.
Later Career and Research
After her Ph.D., Carol Greider started her own lab at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. She kept studying Tetrahymena telomerase. She learned more about how it works and how it helps cells.
She also worked with another scientist, Calvin Harley. They showed that when telomeres get too short, cells stop dividing and get old. This is called cellular senescence.
Telomerase and Aging
Later, Greider worked with Ronald A. DePinho. They created special mice that did not have telomerase. These mice showed signs of getting old faster. Their telomeres became very short. This research helped scientists understand the link between telomeres, aging, and health.
In 1997, Greider became a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She continued her work on telomerase. She studied how telomerase-deficient mice passed on shorter telomeres to their offspring. She also researched the detailed structure of telomerase.
Nobel Prize and Beyond
In 2006, Greider, Blackburn, and Szostak received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. This award is often a sign that a Nobel Prize might follow. And it did! In 2009, they shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their groundbreaking work on telomeres and telomerase.
In 2014, Greider became a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University. She also served as a director and professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Johns Hopkins.
As of 2021, she is a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her lab continues to study telomeres. They research how telomere length affects diseases like tumors. They also look at how telomeres are controlled in cells.
Personal Life
Carol Greider was married to Nathaniel C. Comfort, who is also an academic. They married in 1992 and divorced in 2011. She has two children.
Awards and Honors
Carol Greider has received many important awards for her scientific work, including:
- Richard Lounsbery Award (2003)
- Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (2006) (shared with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak)
- Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2007) (shared with Elizabeth Blackburn and Joseph G. Gall)
- Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2009) (shared with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak)
- Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (2009) (shared with Elizabeth Blackburn)
See also
In Spanish: Carol Greider para niños
