Elizabeth Blackburn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth Blackburn
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Elizabeth Blackburn in 2024
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Elizabeth Helen Blackburn
26 November 1948 |
| Citizenship | Australian and American |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Molecular biology |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Sequence studies on bacteriophage ØX174 DNA by transcription (1974) |
| Doctoral advisor | Frederick Sanger |
| Doctoral students | Carol W. Greider |
Elizabeth Helen Blackburn (born 26 November 1948) is an Australian-American scientist. She won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009. She was also the president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
In 1984, Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol W. Greider discovered telomerase. This is an important enzyme that helps protect our chromosomes. For this discovery, she shared the Nobel Prize with Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak. She was the first Australian woman to win a Nobel Prize.
Blackburn also worked on medical ethics. This means she thought about the right and wrong ways to use science in medicine. She was removed from a special council that advised the US President. Many scientists believed she was removed because of her scientific views.
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Early Life and School
Elizabeth Helen Blackburn was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, on 26 November 1948. She was the second of seven children. Both of her parents were doctors. When she was four, her family moved to Launceston. She went to Broadland House Church of England Girls' Grammar School there.
Later, her family moved to Melbourne. Elizabeth went to University High School. She got very high scores on her final exams. She then studied biochemistry at the University of Melbourne. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in 1970 and her Master of Science degree in 1972.
In 1975, she earned her PhD from Darwin College at the University of Cambridge. She worked with Frederick Sanger at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. There, she learned how to study the DNA of a tiny virus called Phi X 174.
Discovering Telomerase
After her PhD, Elizabeth Blackburn did more research at Yale University. She studied a tiny organism called Tetrahymena thermophila. She noticed something special about its DNA. At the very ends of its chromosomes, there was a repeating pattern of DNA. This pattern was TTAGGG, repeated many times.
Blackburn and her colleague Jack Szostak found that these special ends, called telomeres, protected chromosomes. They showed that these sequences kept chromosomes from breaking down. This was a big clue about how our own chromosomes are protected.
They realized that a special enzyme must be adding these repeating DNA pieces. So, Elizabeth Blackburn and her PhD student, Carol W. Greider, started looking for it. In 1985, they discovered the enzyme! They called it telomerase.
Telomerase is like a special repair crew for chromosomes. It adds the missing DNA pieces to the ends of chromosomes. This stops the chromosomes from getting shorter each time a cell divides. This discovery was a huge step in understanding how cells age and how they can become cancerous.
How Telomerase Works
Imagine your shoelaces. The plastic tips at the ends stop them from fraying. Telomeres are like those tips for your chromosomes. They protect the important genetic information inside.
Every time a cell divides, the telomeres get a little shorter. If they get too short, the cell can't divide properly anymore. This is linked to aging. Telomerase helps by adding new pieces to the telomeres. It makes sure they stay long enough for cells to keep dividing.
Blackburn and her team found that telomerase uses a small piece of RNA as a guide. It then adds new DNA "letters" to the telomere. This keeps the chromosome ends healthy.
In 2016, Elizabeth Blackburn talked about the moment they discovered telomerase. She said that when Carol Greider showed her the results, she immediately thought, "Ah! This could be very big." She saw a clear pattern that showed something real was happening.
Blackburn joined the University of California, Berkeley in 1978. In 1990, she moved to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She led a department there from 1993 to 1999. She became a Professor Emeritus at UCSF at the end of 2015.
Nobel Prize and Its Impact
In 2009, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. They received it for their amazing discoveries about telomeres and telomerase. Their work changed how scientists understood chromosomes and cell division.
Their research showed that telomerase helps cells live longer. For example, adding telomerase to certain cells can stop them from aging too quickly. This discovery also helped scientists understand cancer. Cancer cells often have high levels of telomerase. This allows them to divide over and over without aging, which helps tumors grow.
Understanding telomeres and telomerase is very important for studying diseases. It helps scientists learn more about aging and different types of cancer.
Science and Society
In 2002, Elizabeth Blackburn was asked to join the President's Council on Bioethics. This group advised the US President on ethical issues in science. Blackburn believed that research using human embryonic cells was important. This was different from the views of the US government at the time.
Because of this disagreement, she was removed from the Council in 2004. Many scientists were upset by this. Over 170 scientists signed a letter to the president. They said she was removed because of her scientific advice. Blackburn felt that science was being used for political reasons.
She continues to support scientific research and good science policy.
Current Research and Life
In recent years, Elizabeth Blackburn and her team have been studying how stress affects telomeres and telomerase. They are looking at how things like mindfulness meditation might help. Studies suggest that long-term stress can make cells age faster.
Blackburn has also appeared in science documentaries. These include Death by Design/The Life and Times of Life and Times (1995) and 'Decoding Immortality' (2012).
At the University of California San Francisco, Blackburn's lab still studies telomeres and telomerase. They want to understand how keeping telomeres healthy affects cell aging. Many long-term diseases are linked to problems with telomeres. Her lab is working to find out how changing telomerase activity can impact cells.
While working in Cambridge, Blackburn met her husband, John Sedat. They moved to New Haven, USA, and got married. She has a son, born in 1986. Elizabeth Blackburn divides her time between La Jolla and San Francisco. She is a strong supporter and mentor for scientific research.
Awards and Honors
Elizabeth Blackburn has received many awards for her important work. Some of these include:
- United States National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology (1990)
- Australia Prize (1998)
- Harvey Prize (1999)
- Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine (2004)
- Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (2006)
- Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize of Columbia University (2007)
- L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science (2008)
- Pearl Meister Greengard Prize (2008)
- The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009
- Companion of the Order of Australia (2010)
- AIC Gold Medal (2012)
- The Royal Medal of the Royal Society (2015)
She was also elected to lead several important scientific groups:
- President of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (2016–2017)
- President of the American Association for Cancer Research (2010)
- President of the American Society for Cell Biology (1998)
In 2007, Time magazine included Elizabeth Blackburn in its list of the 100 people who shape our world.
See also
In Spanish: Elizabeth Blackburn para niños
