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Elizabeth Blackburn

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Elizabeth Blackburn
AC FRS FAA FRSN
Elizabeth Blackburn in 2024
Born
Elizabeth Helen Blackburn

(1948-11-26) 26 November 1948 (age 76)
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
CitizenshipAustralian and American
Education
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsMolecular biology
Institutions
ThesisSequence studies on bacteriophage ØX174 DNA by transcription (1974)
Doctoral advisorFrederick Sanger[1]
Doctoral studentsCarol W. Greider
Websitebiochemistry2.ucsf.edu/labs/blackburn

Elizabeth Helen Blackburn (born 26 November 1948) is an Australian-American Nobel laureate who is the former president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.[2] In 1984, Blackburn co-discovered telomerase, the enzyme that replenishes the telomere, with Carol W. Greider. For this work, she was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sharing it with Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak, becoming the first Australian woman Nobel laureate.

She also worked in medical ethics, and was controversially dismissed from the Bush administration's President's Council on Bioethics. 170 scientists signed an open letter to the president in her support, maintaining that she was fired because of political opposition to her advice.[3]

Early life and education

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Profile of Elizabeth Blackburn created by the organisation Science for All as part of the UN's International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Elizabeth Helen Blackburn, the second of seven children, was born in Hobart, Tasmania, on 26 November 1948, with both her parents being family physicians.[4][5] Her family moved to the city of Launceston when she was four, where she attended the Broadland House Church of England Girls' Grammar School (later amalgamated with Launceston Church Grammar School) until the age of sixteen.

Upon her family's relocation to Melbourne, she attended University High School, and ultimately gained very high marks in the end-of-year final statewide matriculation exams.[6] She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in 1970 and Master of Science in 1972, both from the University of Melbourne in the field of biochemistry. Blackburn then went to receive her PhD in 1975 from Darwin College at the University of Cambridge,[5] for work she did with Frederick Sanger at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology developing methods to sequence DNA using RNA, as well as studying the bacteriophage Phi X 174.[4][7]

Career and research

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During her postdoctoral work at Yale, Blackburn was doing research on the protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila and noticed a repeating codon at the end of the linear rDNA which varied in size.[8] Blackburn then noticed that this hexanucleotide at the end of the chromosome contained a TTAGGG sequence that was tandemly repeated, and the terminal end of the chromosomes were palindromic. These characteristics allowed Blackburn and colleagues to conduct further research on the protozoan. Using the telomeric repeated end of Tetrahymena, Blackburn and colleague Jack Szostak showed the unstable replicating plasmids of yeast were protected from degradation, proving that these sequences contained characteristics of telomeres.[8] This research also proved the telomeric repeats of Tetrahymena were conserved evolutionarily between the species.[8] Through this research, Blackburn and collaborators noticed the replication system for chromosomes was not likely to add to the lengthening of the telomere, and that the addition of these hexanucleotides to the chromosomes was likely due to the activity of an enzyme that is able to transfer specific functional groups.[8] The proposition of a possible transferase-like enzyme led Blackburn and PhD student Carol W. Greider to the discovery of an enzyme with reverse transcriptase activity that was able to fill in the terminal ends of telomeres without leaving the chromosome incomplete and unable to divide without loss of the end of the chromosome.[9] This 1985 discovery led to the purification of this enzyme in lab, showing the transferase-like enzyme contained both RNA and protein components.[8] The RNA portion of the enzyme served as a template for adding the telomeric repeats to the incomplete telomere, and the protein added enzymatic function for the addition of these repeats.Through this breakthrough, the term "telomerase" was given to the enzyme, solving the end-replication process that had troubled scientists at the time.[9]

Telomerase

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In 1984, Blackburn was a biological researcher and professor of biology and physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, studying the telomere, a structure at the end of chromosomes that protects the chromosome.

Telomerase works by adding base pairs to the overhang of DNA on the 3' end, extending the strand until DNA polymerase and an RNA primer can complete the complementary strand and successfully synthesize the double-stranded DNA. Since DNA polymerase only synthesizes DNA in the leading strand direction, the shortening of the telomere results.[10] Through their research, Blackburn and collaborators were able to show that the telomere is effectively replenished by the enzyme telomerase, which conserves cellular division by preventing the rapid loss of genetic information internal to the telomere, leading to cellular aging.[8]

On 1 January 2016, Blackburn was interviewed about her studies, discovering telomerase, and her current research. When she was asked to recall the moment of telomerase discovery she stated:[11]

Carol had done this experiment, and we stood, just in the lab, and I remember sort of standing there, and she had this – we call it a gel. It's an autoradiogram because there were trace amounts of radioactivity that were used to develop an image of the separated DNA products of what turned out to be the telomerase enzyme reaction. I remember looking at it and just thinking, 'Ah! This could be very big. This looks just right.' It had a pattern to it. There was a regularity to it. There was something that was not just sort of garbage there, and that was really kind of coming through, even though we look back at it now, we'd say, technically, there was this, that, and the other, but it was a pattern shining through, and it just had this sort of sense, 'Ah! There's something real here.' But then, of course, the good scientist has to be very skeptical and immediately say, 'Okay, we're going to test this every way around here, and really nail this one way or the other.' If it's going to be true, you have to make sure that it's true, because you can get a lot of false leads, especially if you're wanting something to work.[11]

In 1978, Blackburn joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Department of Molecular Biology. In 1990, she moved across the San Francisco Bay to the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she served as the Department Chair from 1993 to 1999 and was the Morris Herzstein Professor of Biology and Physiology at UCSF. Blackburn became a Professor Emeritus at UCSF at the end of 2015.[12][13]

Blackburn co-founded the company Telomere Health which offers telomere length testing to the public, but later severed ties with the company.[14][15]

In 2015, Blackburn was announced as the new President of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. "Few scientists garner the kind of admiration and respect that Dr. Blackburn receives from her peers for her scientific accomplishments and her leadership, service and integrity", says Irwin M. Jacobs, chairman of Salk's Board of Trustees, on Blackburn's appointment as President of the institute. "Her deep insight as a scientist, her vision as a leader, and her warm personality will prove invaluable as she guides the Salk Institute on its continuing journey of discovery".  In 2017, she announced her plans to retire from the Salk Institute the following year.[16]

Nobel Prize

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For their research and contributions to the understanding of telomeres and the enzyme telomerase, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak were awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The substantial research on the effects of chromosomal protection from telomerase, and the impact this has on cellular division has been a revolutionary catalyst in the field of molecular biology.[17] For example, the addition of telomerase to cells that do not possess this enzyme has shown to bypass the limit of cellular ageing in those cells, thereby linking this enzyme to reduced cellular aging.[17] The addition of telomerase, and the presence of the enzyme in cancer cells has been shown to provide an immunity mechanism for the cell in proliferating, linking the transferase activity to increased cellular growth and reduced sensitivity for cellular signaling. Telomeres are also believed to play an important role in certain types of cancers, including pancreatic, bone, prostate, bladder, lung, kidney, and head and neck cancer.[18] The importance of discovering this enzyme has since led her continued research at the University of California San Francisco, where she studies the effect of telomeres and telomerase activity on cellular aging.[19]

Bioethics

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Blackburn was appointed a member of the President's Council on Bioethics in 2002.[20] She supported human embryonic cell research, in opposition to the Bush administration. Her Council terms were terminated by White House directive on 27 February 2004.[21] Dr. Blackburn believes that she was dismissed from the Council due to her disapproval of the Bush administration's position against stem cell research.[22] This was followed by expressions of outrage over her removal by many scientists, 170 of whom signed an open letter to the president maintaining that she was fired because of political opposition to her advice.[23]

Scientists and ethicists at the time even went as far as to say that Blackburn's removal was in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, which "requires balance on such advisory bodies"[22]

"There is a growing sense that scientific research—which, after all, is defined by the quest for truth—is being manipulated for political ends", wrote Blackburn. "There is evidence that such manipulation is being achieved through the stacking of the membership of advisory bodies and through the delay and misrepresentation of their reports."[24][25]

Blackburn serves on the Science Advisory Board of the Regenerative Medicine Foundation formerly known as the Genetics Policy Institute.[26]

Current research

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In recent years Blackburn and her colleagues have been investigating the effect of stress on telomerase and telomeres[27] with particular emphasis on mindfulness meditation.[28][29] She is also one of several biologists (and one of two Nobel Prize laureates) in the 1995 science documentary Death by Design/The Life and Times of Life and Times. She also featured in the 2012 Emmy award-winning science documentary, 'Decoding Immortality' (also known as 'Immortal') by Genepool Productions.[30] Studies suggest that chronic psychological stress may accelerate ageing at the cellular level. Intimate partner violence was found to shorten telomere length in formerly abused women versus never abused women, possibly causing poorer overall health and greater morbidity in abused women.[31]

At the University of California San Francisco, Blackburn currently researches telomeres and telomerase in many organisms, from yeast to human cells.[19] The lab is focused on telomere maintenance, and how this has an impact on cellular aging. Many chronic diseases have been associated with the improper maintenance of these telomeres, thereby affecting cellular division, cycling, and impaired growth. At the cutting edge of telomere research, the Blackburn lab currently investigates the impact of limited maintenance of telomeres in cells through altering the enzyme telomerase.[19]

Publications

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Blackburn's first book The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer[32] (2017) was co-authored with health psychologist Dr. Elissa S. Epel of Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions (AME) Center at the UCSF Center for Health and Community.[33] Blackburn comments on ageing reversal and care for one's telomeres through lifestyle: managing chronic stress, exercising, eating better and getting enough sleep; telomere testing, plus cautions and advice.[34] While studying telomeres and the replenishing enzyme, telomerase, Blackburn discovered a vital role played by these protective caps that revolved around one central idea: ageing of cells. The book hones in on many of the effects that poor health can have on telomeres and telomerase activity.[35] Since telomeres shorten with every division of a cell, replenishing these caps is essential to long term cell growth. Through research and data, Blackburn explained that people that lead stressful lives exhibit less telomerase functioning in the body, which leads to a decrease in the dividing capabilities of the cell.[35] Once telomeres shorten drastically, the cells can no longer divide, meaning the tissues they replenish with every division would therefore die out, highlighting the ageing mechanism in humans. To increase telomerase activity in people with stress-filled lives, Blackburn suggests moderate exercise, even 15 minutes a day, which has been proven to stimulate telomerase activity and replenish the telomere.[35]

Blackburn states that unhappiness in lives also has an effect on the shortening of telomeres. In a study done on divorced couples, their telomere length was "significantly shorter" compared to couples in healthy relationships, and Blackburn states, "There's an obvious stressor ... we are intensely social beings."[36] She suggests positivity in daily life increases health. While increasing the amount of exercise, decreasing stress, and tobacco use, and maintaining a balanced sleep schedule, Blackburn explains that telomere length can be maintained, leading to a decrease in cell aging.[36] Blackburn also tells readers to be wary of clinical pills that proclaim to lengthen or telomeres and protect the body from aging. She says that these pills and creams have no scientific proof of being anti-aging supplements and that the key to preserving our telomeres and stimulating telomerase activity comes from leading a healthy life.[36]

Personal life

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While working at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, Blackburn met her husband John Sedat.[37] Sedat had taken a position at Yale, where she then decided to finish her postdoctoral.[4][5] "Thus it was that love brought me to a most fortunate and influential choice: Joe Gall’s lab at Yale." They moved to New Haven and were married soon after.[5]

Blackburn splits her time living between La Jolla and San Francisco with her husband, and has a son, born in 1986.[5][38] She serves as a mentor and advocate for scientific research and policy.[39]

Awards and honours

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Blackburn's awards and honors include:

Elizabeth Blackburn (Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology 2009) in Stockholm, June 2016

Blackburn was elected:

In 2007, Blackburn was listed among Time magazine's 100 people who shape our world.[59]

References

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  1. ^ "Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn named Salk Institute President". Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  3. ^ Brady, Catherine (2007). Elizabeth Blackburn and the Story of Telomeres. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-02622-2.
  4. ^ a b c "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e Grady, Denise (8 April 2013). "Charting Her Own Course". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  6. ^ Brady 2007, pp. 1–13
  7. ^ "The Nobel Prize | Women who changed science | Elizabeth Blackburn". www.nobelprize.org. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Valera, E (2010). "2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: telomeres and telomerase". Oncogene. 29 (11): 1561–1565. doi:10.1038/onc.2010.15. PMID 20237481. S2CID 11726588.
  9. ^ a b Gilson, Eric; Ségal-Bendirdjian, Evelyne (1 April 2010). "The telomere story or the triumph of an open-minded research". Biochimie. 92 (4): 321–326. doi:10.1016/j.biochi.2009.12.014. ISSN 0300-9084. PMID 20096746.
  10. ^ "Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak's Telomere and Telomerase Experiments (1982–1989) | The Embryo Project Encyclopedia". embryo.asu.edu. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Elizabeth Blackburn Interview". American Academy of Achievement. 17 November 2009.
  12. ^ "UCSF Profiles: Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD". ucsf.edu. The Regents of the University of California. 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  13. ^ Madhusoodanan, Jyoti (18 November 2015). "Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn Named President of Salk Institute". Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  14. ^ Marchant, Jo (2011). "Spit test offers guide to health". Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2011.330.
  15. ^ Yasmin, Seema (November 2016). "$89 test kit claims to determine how well your cells are aging. Does it work?". Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  16. ^ "Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn named Salk Institute president". Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  17. ^ a b Herbert, Brittney-Shea (January 2011). "The impact of telomeres and telomerase in cellular biology and medicine: it's not the end of the story". Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. 15 (1): 1–2. doi:10.1111/j.1582-4934.2010.01233.x. ISSN 1582-1838. PMC 3822486. PMID 21261810.
  18. ^ "Australia's Nobel Prize winners". Australian Geographic. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  19. ^ a b c "Blackburn Lab Research". biochemistry2.ucsf.edu. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  20. ^ "President Names Members of Bioethics Council". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  21. ^ Blackburn, Elizabeth & Rowley, Janet (2004). "Reason as Our Guide". PLOS Biology. 2 (4): e116. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020116. PMC 359389. PMID 15024408.
  22. ^ a b "President's Council on Bioethics". Union of Concerned Scientists. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  23. ^ Stewart, Cameron (10 August 2019). "Eyes on the Prize". The Weekend Australian. News Corp Australia.
  24. ^ Bioethics and the Political Distortion of Biomedical Science Elizabeth Blackburn, The New England Journal of Medicine 350:1379–1380 (1 April 2004)
  25. ^ A Nobel prize for a Bush critic Archived 12 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine By Andrew Leonard, Salon.com, 5 October 2009 Free text. Extensive quotation from Blackburn's article. She is an important scientist throughout the world.
  26. ^ "Science Advisory Board". genpol.org. Regenerative Medicine Foundation. 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  27. ^ Epel ES, Lin J, Dhabhar FS, Wolkowitz OM, Puterman E, Karan L, Blackburn EH (2010). "Dynamics of telomerase activity in response to acute psychological stress". Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 24 (4): 531–539. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2009.11.018. PMC 2856774. PMID 20018236.
  28. ^ Jacobs TL, Epel ES, Lin J, Blackburn EH, Wolkowitz OM, Bridwell DA, Zanesco AP, Aichele SR, Sahdra BK, Maclean KA, King BG, Shaver PR, Rosenberg EL, Ferrer E, Wallace BA, Saron CD (2010). "Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators". Psychoneuroendocrinology. 36 (5): 664–681. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.09.010. PMID 21035949. S2CID 4890811.
  29. ^ Elissa Epel; Jennifer Daubenmier; Judith Tedlie Moskowitz; Susan Folkman; Elizabeth Blackburn (2009). "Can Meditation Slow Rate of Cellular Aging? Cognitive Stress, Mindfulness, and Telomeres". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1172 (1): 34–53. Bibcode:2009NYASA1172...34E. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04414.x. PMC 3057175. PMID 19735238.
  30. ^ "Immortal".
  31. ^ Janice Humphreys; Elissa S. Epel; Bruce A. Cooper; Jue Lin; Elizabeth H. Blackburn; Kathryn A. Lee (2012). "Telomere Shortening in Formerly Abused and Never Abused Women". Biological Research for Nursing. 14 (2): 115–123. doi:10.1177/1099800411398479. PMC 3207021. PMID 21385798.
  32. ^ Blackburn, Elizabeth (2017). The telomere effect: a revolutionary approach to living younger, healthier, longer. New York: Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4555-8798-8. OCLC 949143786.
  33. ^ Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, Dr. Elissa Epel (2017). The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer. Grand Central Publishing. p. 416. ISBN 978-1-4555-8797-1.
  34. ^ Corbyn, Zoë (29 January 2017). "Elizabeth Blackburn on the telomere effect: 'It's about keeping healthier for longer'". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  35. ^ a b c "How maintaining your telomeres can help you age healthily". Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  36. ^ a b c "How to beat the march of time". The Australian. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  37. ^ Landau, Misia (1 April 2009). "A Conversation with Elizabeth Blackburn". Clinical Chemistry. 55 (4): 835–841. doi:10.1373/clinchem.2008.119578. ISSN 1530-8561. PMID 19233908.
  38. ^ UCSF's Elizabeth Blackburn Receives Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, By Jennifer O'Brien. Press release.
  39. ^ "Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD". Academy of Achievement. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  40. ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  41. ^ "Fellows of the Royal Society". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015.
  42. ^ "List of Fellows of the Royal Society 1660–2007" (PDF). Royal Society Library & Information Services. July 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  43. ^ United States National Academy of Sciences. "Member Directory: Elizabeth Blackburn". www.nasonline.org.
  44. ^ Keio University Medical Science Fund. "Prize Laureates: Keio Medical Science Prize". www.ms-fund.keio.ac.jp. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  45. ^ "Recipients of the Passano Laureate and Physician Scientist Awards". The Passano Foundation, Inc. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  46. ^ University of California - San Francisco (10 February 1999). "UCSF's Elizabeth Blackburn Receives Two Major Science Awards" (Press release). Eureka Alert AAAS. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  47. ^ "Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD Biography and Interview". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  48. ^ Atiyah, Sir Michael (23 May 2006). "Nine receive honorary degrees from Harvard". Harvard University Gazette. Archived from the original on 12 October 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2006.
  49. ^ "Pearl Meister Greengard Prize – An International Award Recognizing Outstanding Women in Biomedical Research". The Rockefeller University. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  50. ^ "Blackburn, Greider, and Szostak share Nobel". Dolan DNA Learning Center. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  51. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009". The Nobel Foundation. 5 October 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  52. ^ "It's an Honour". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 26 January 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  53. ^ "Fellows of RSNSW". RSNSW. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  54. ^ "American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal". Science History Institute. 22 March 2018.
  55. ^ "Royal Medal". Royal Society. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  56. ^ "Professor Elizabeth Helen Blackburn - Jesus College". Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  57. ^ "Officers of the AACR". Aacr.org. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  58. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  59. ^ Alice Park (3 May 2007). "The Time 100: Elizabeth Blackburn". Time. Archived from the original on 5 May 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
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