Nobel Prize Awarded to Three Scientists for Groundbreaking Discovery in Cell Protection

Three U.S. scientists, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak, have been awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of how cells protect their genetic material. This critical discovery has far-reaching implications for research on aging, cancer, and other issues. The scientists' work revealed that cells have protective caps on their ends called telomeres, which are replenished with an enzyme known as telomerase. If telomeres are shortened, cells age, while high telomerase activity can delay cellular senescence and even grant cancer cells "eternal life."

Key Takeaways:

• Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak were awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of how cells protect their genetic material.
• The scientists discovered that cells have protective caps on their ends called telomeres, which are replenished with an enzyme known as telomerase.
• Shortened telomeres lead to cell aging, while high telomerase activity can delay cellular senescence and even grant cancer cells "eternal life."
• Greider was born in San Diego and obtained her PhD in 1987 from the University of California at Berkeley, with Blackburn as her supervisor.
• Blackburn is a native of Tasmania and studied at the University of Melbourne before receiving a PhD in 1975 from the University of Cambridge.
• Szostak was born in London and grew up in Canada, studying at McGill University in Montreal and Cornell University in New York, where he received his PhD in 1977.
• The Nobel Prize award recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell, which has stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies.
• The scientists have already won a series of medical honors, including the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 2006 and the Canada Gairdner International Award in 1998.
• The researchers will split the $1.4 million payment that accompanies the prize with Blackburn, 60, and Szostak, 56.

Statistics:

• $1.4 million: the amount the researchers will split as their share of the Nobel Prize award.
• 2006: the year the researchers shared the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award.
• 1998: the year Blackburn and Greider each won the Canada Gairdner International Award.
• 1975: the year Blackburn received her PhD from the University of Cambridge.
• 1977: the year Szostak received his PhD from Cornell University.

Sources:

• Washington Post
• The Associated Press