We have compiled the details of the life of Elizabeth Blackburn, a molecular biologist and biochemist who pioneered the important discoveries she contributed to the world of genetic science and crowned them with her well-deserved Nobel Prize.
Her full name is Elizabeth Helen Blackburn, she was born on November 26, 1948 in Hobart, Tasmania. She was born as the second of seven children to parents who were both family physicians. Moved to Launceston with her family at the age of four, Blackburn was educated at Broadland House Church of England Girls' Grammar School until she was sixteen.
Blackburn, who was fond of living things and nature from her childhood, became even more curious about this subject by reading Marie Curie's biography. After her family moved to Melbourne, Blackburn entered University High School, where she scored high in the end-of-year qualifying exams. She then earned a bachelor's degree and then a master's degree, both in biochemistry from the University of Melbourne.
Blackburn then went on to earn her doctorate in 1975 from Darwin College at Cambridge University for her work with Frederick Sanger. These studies included developing methods for sequencing DNA using RNA, as well as studying the bacteriophage Phi X 174. In 1978, Blackburn enrolled on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley Department of Molecular Biology.
During Blackburn's postdoctoral studies, she conducted research on a single-celled organism called "Tetrahymena thermophila" and noticed a repeating codon of varying sizes at the end of linear rDNA. Later, Blackburn saw that this hexanucleotide at the end of the chromosome contains a cascade of TTAGGG, and the terminal end of the chromosomes is palindromic. These features prompted Blackburn and other colleagues to conduct further research on the "protozoan."
Blackburn and Jack Szostak continued their work on this issue and showed that using the repeated telomeric end of Tetrahymena, yeast labile replicating plasmids are protected from degradation. Thus, they proved that these sequences contain properties of telomeres. Their research also provided evidence that Tetrahymena's telomeric repeats are evolutionarily conserved across species.
In 1984, Blackburn became a biological researcher and professor of biology and physiology at the University of California. Here she worked on a feature called the "telomere," a structure that protects chromosomes at the end of chromosomes.
Through this research, Blackburn and colleagues found that the replication system for chromosomes is unlikely to contribute to telomere elongation. Furthermore, they noticed that the attachment of these hexanucleotides to chromosomes was probably due to the activity of a specific transferable enzyme. The suggestion of a possible transferase-like enzyme led Blackburn to the discovery of an enzyme with reverse transcriptase activity that can fill the terminal ends of telomeres that cannot divide without loss and without leaving the chromosome incomplete. This discovery in 1985 led to the purification of this enzyme in the laboratory, thereby demonstrating that the transferase-like enzyme contains both RNA and protein components.
Telomerase works by adding base pairs to the overhang at the 3' end of DNA and extends the helix until DNA polymerase and an RNA primer can complete the complementary strand and successfully synthesize double-stranded DNA. Since DNA polymerase synthesizes DNA only in the leading helix direction, it results in telomere shortening. Blackburn's research showed that the telomere is effectively renewed by the "telomerase enzyme", which maintains cellular division by preventing the rapid loss of genetic information inside the telomere, which leads to cell aging.
Continuing with the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 1990, Blackburn served as the Department Chair from 1993 to 1999. Blackburn, who is the Morris Herzstein Professor of Biology and Physiology at UCSF, went on to become Professor Emeritus at the end of 2015.
In 2002, Blackburn was appointed a member of the "Bioethics Council" chaired by President George W. Bush. The group that supported human embryonic cell research was dismissed on February 27, 2004, due to Dr. Blackburn's disapproval of the group's stance on stem cell research.
Blackburn was honored with the "2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine" for their research, along with Carol Greider and Jack Szostak, for their contribution to the understanding of telomeres and the telomerase enzyme. Their research became a revolutionary catalyst in the field of molecular biology. By adding telomerase to cells that do not have this enzyme, it played an important role in the treatment and cure of many diseases, especially pancreatic, bone, prostate, bladder, lung, kidney and head and neck cancer. She has also since pioneered ongoing research on this topic at the University of California San Francisco.
In recent years, Blackburn and colleagues have begun to investigate the effect of stress on telomerase and telomeres. They sought to do this research, with particular emphasis on mindfulness meditation. She also appeared in Genepool Productions' 2012 Emmy-winning science documentary "Decoding Immortality". Through her work, she thought that chronic psychological stress could accelerate aging at the cellular level. In addition, it claimed that intimate partner violence shortens telomere length in women who have never been abused, resulting in worse overall health and greater morbidity in abused women compared to previously abused women.
In 2015, Blackburn was announced as President of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla. In 2018, Blackburn announced that she plans to retire from the institute.
Blackburn currently conducts telomere and telomerase research in organisms ranging from yeast to human cells at the University of California San Francisco. The lab, which focused on telomere maintenance and how it affects cellular aging, has also been associated with improper maintenance of these telomeres in many chronic diseases. This cause of improper maintenance affects cellular division, cycling and impaired growth. Currently at the cutting edge of their research, the Blackburn lab is investigating the effect of limited telomere maintenance in cells by altering the enzyme telomerase.
Personal life
Blackburn met John W. Sedat while working in the Cambridge laboratory. The couple moved to New Haven some time later and got married there. The couple has a son named Benjamin who was born in 1986.
She was also featured as one of several biologists in the 1995 science documentary "Death by Design/The Life and Times of Life and Times". She co-wrote Blackburn's first book, "The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer" (2017), with health psychologist Dr. Elissa S.Epel. Blackburn provides commentary and advice on lifestyle reversal of aging and the maintenance of one's telomeres. In her book, however, she focused on many of the effects of poor health on telomeres and telomerase activity.
Additionally, in her book, Blackburn stated that unhappiness in lives also has an impact on shortening telomeres and thus rapid aging. In addition, Blackburn suggested reducing stress, tobacco use, as well as increasing the amount of exercise. What's more, she explained that maintaining a balanced sleep schedule can lead to a reduction in cell aging by maintaining telomere length.
In 2007, she was listed by Time magazine as "The TIME 100—The People Who Shape Our World".