U2C Congratulates SAC Member Elizabeth Blackburn on Nobel Prize

Posted on October 6, 2009 8:58 AM

Stand Up To Cancer congratulates Scientific Advisory Committee Member Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Ph.D, for winning, along with Carol W. Greider, Ph.D., and Jack W. Szostak, Ph.D., the Nobel Prize in Medicine, for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.

“Dr. Blackburn is a scientific pioneer who, along with Drs. Greider and Szostak, is revolutionizing the way we look at biology and translational science,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of SU2C’s scientific partner, the American Association for Cancer Research. “Not only did their discovery propel cancer science forward on a grand scale, it is also changing the way we explore how to treat other types of disease and how to potentially prolong cell life.”

The trio uncovered how chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell division and how they are protected against degradation. The solution is found in the ends of the chromosomes – the telomeres – and in an enzyme that forms them – telomerase. With Szostak, Blackburn discovered that a unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation.

In 1985, Blackburn and her then-graduate student Greider identified telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomereDNA. Their research showed that, in some organisms, telomerase continuously replenishes the chromosome’s telomeric tips. In humans, however, research showed that telomerase is damped down at certain times in the lives of many types of cells, limiting their ability to self-replenish. With this discovery, scientists saw the possibility of exploring whether, in humans, the enzyme could be reactivated to prolong cell life to treat age-related diseases, and deactivated to interrupt cancers.

Most normal cells do not divide frequently, therefore, their chromosomes are not at risk of shortening and they do not require high telomerase activity. In contrast, cancer cells have the ability to divide infinitely and yet preserve their telomeres. One explanation became apparent with the finding that cancer cells often have increased telomerase activity. It was, therefore, proposed that cancer might be treated by eradicating telomerase. Several studies are underway in this area, including clinical trials evaluating vaccines directed against cells with elevated telomerase activity.

In recent years, Blackburn and colleagues have investigated the possibility that life stress, the perception of life stress and lifestyle behaviors could take a toll on telomerase and telomeres. They have reported several studies with human participants that suggest a correlation. The findings may offer insight, at the cellular level, into the impact of stress on early onset of age-related diseases.

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Ph.D., is the Morris Herzstein professor of biology and physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for Stand Up To Cancer, that recently awarded $73.6 million to translational research Dream Teams for projects that could impact the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of cancers in adults and children across ethnicities including, but not limited to, pancreatic, breast, ovarian, cervical, uterine, brain, lung, prostate, rectal and colon, which represents two thirds of all U.S. cancer deaths.

Blackburn is the president-elect of SU2C’s scientific partner, the American Association for Cancer Research and an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of London, the American Academyof Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. From 2002 to 2004, she served on the President’s Council on Bioethics and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards, including the Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research. Blackburn is the chair of the AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research Committee and has served as senior editor of Molecular Cancer Research.

Blackburn earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the University of Melbourne inAustralia. She received her doctorate from the University of Cambridge in England. From 1975 to 1977, Blackburndid her postdoctoral work in molecular and cellular biology at Yale, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.