Elizabeth Helen Blackburn
Elizabeth Helen Blackburn (born November 26, 1948) is an Australian-American biochemist best known for her groundbreaking research on telomeres and the enzyme telomerase. Along with Carol Greider and Jack Szostak, she discovered how telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes and how telomerase maintains them, with critical implications for cellular aging and diseases such as cancer. This work earned her the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009. Her discoveries have transformed molecular biology and opened new pathways for medical and therapeutic research.
Quotes
- Ageing is so many different things, and cells being able to self-renew is part of the picture but not all of it.
- Genes load the gun, and environment pulls the trigger.
- Avoid negative stress, such as toxic relationships in which you know there will be conflict, unrealistic deadlines, and other situations in which you will not get enough sleep or be able to eat well for days.
- The worst stressors—exposure to violence, trauma, abuse, and mental illness—are shaped by a surprising factor: the level of income inequality in a region. For example, countries with the biggest gap between their richest citizens and their poorest have the worst health and the most violence.