Telomere researchers get Nobel

Tuesday October 6th, 2009

Carol Greider

Elizabeth Blackburn

Three scientists who discovered the secret of cell ageing shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine between themselves yesterday.

The three US-based scientists, Elizabeth Blackburn, Jack Szostak and Carol Greider, were responsible for the discovery of telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.

Telomeres are found on the end of chromosomes and determine whether a chromosome ages during cell division or not. High telomerase activity can maintain telomere length and prevent cells from ageing - as can happen in cancer.

They will share the equivalent of nearly ?900,000 between themselves.

Australian-born Professor Blackburn, aged 61, is based at the University of California, San Francisco.

Professor Greider, aged 48, is based at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

And British-born Professor Szostak, aged 57, is based at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

Tags: North America | General Health | World Health

Printer friendly page