Born: 26 November 1948, Australia
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Elizabeth Helen Blackburn, born on November 26, 1948, holds dual Australian and American citizenship and previously served as President of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. In 1984, Blackburn and Carol W. Greider jointly discovered telomerase, the enzyme responsible for telomere replenishment. This groundbreaking achievement led to their winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009, with Blackburn making history as the first Australian woman Nobel laureate.
In addition to her scientific work, Blackburn also contributed to the medical ethics field. Her time on the President’s Council on Bioethics during the Bush administration ended amid controversy when she was dismissed. A group of 170 prominent scientists supported her, asserting that her removal was due to political differences regarding her advisory role.
During her postdoctoral work at Yale, Blackburn focused on the protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila, uncovering a repeating codon at the end of its linear rDNA and a palindromic TTAGGG sequence at chromosome terminals. Collaborating with Jack Szostak, they confirmed these sequences’ protective role for unstable yeast plasmids, demonstrating their telomere-like characteristics.
Their work proposed the existence of an enzyme with reverse transcriptase activity responsible for adding hexanucleotides to chromosomes. This 1985 discovery, followed by enzyme purification, revealed RNA and protein components working in tandem. The RNA acted as a template for adding telomeric repeats to incomplete telomeres, while the protein facilitated the enzymatic function needed for repeat addition.
This pivotal breakthrough introduced the term “telomerase,” solving the long-standing puzzle of the end-replication process and revolutionizing the field of biology.
This biography has been shared from The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, published by the Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Elizabeth Blackburn discovered the ribonucleoprotein enzyme telomerase. Blackburn and her research team at the University of California, San Francisco have worked with a variety of organisms and human cancer cells gaining an understanding of telomerase and telomere biology. Her work in this area has been published widely in peer-reviewed journals.
In 2009 Blackburn and her research partners, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
Chronology
1970: Education – Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Melbourne
1972: Education – Master of Science (MSc), University of Melbourne
1975: Education – Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Cambridge, UK
1975 – 1977: Career position – Postdoctoral work in molecular and cellular biology at Yale University, USA
1978: Career position – Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, San Francisco, USA
1978 – 1983: Career position – Assistant Professor, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1983 – 1986: Career position – Associate Professor, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1986 – 1990: Career position – Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1988: Award – Recipient of Eli Lilly Research Award for Microbiology and Immunology
1990 – : Career position – Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1990: Award – Recipient of National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology
1990: Award – Named Harvey Society Lecturer at the Harvey Society in New York
1991: Education – Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc (Hon)), Yale University, USA
1991: Award – Honorary Doctorate of Science from Yale University
1991: Award – Appointed Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1992: Award – Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
1993: Award – Appointed Fellow of American Academy of Microbiology
1993 – 1999: Career position – Chair in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1998: Career position – President, American Society for Cell Biology
1998: Award – Recipient of Gairdner Foundation International Award
1998: Award – Recipient of Australia Prize
1998: Award – Australia Prize in the field of Molecular Science (joint), Commonwealth of Australia
1999 – : Career position – Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California in San Francisco, USA
1999: Award – Named California Scientist of the Year
1999: Award – Recipient of Keio Medical Science Prize
1999: Award – Recipient of Harvey Prize
2000: Award – Recipient of American Association for Cancer Research’s G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award
2000: Award – Recipient of the Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award
2000: Award – Appointed Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science
2000: Award – Recipient of the American Cancer Society’s Medal of Honor
2001: Award – E.B. Wilson Award of the American Society for Cell Biology
2001: Award – Recipient of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Alfred P. Sloan Award
2001: Award – Recipient of AACR-Pezcoller Foundation International Award for Cancer Research
2003: Award – Recipient of the Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Award
2004: Award – Recipient of the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine
2005: Award – Recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science of The Franklin Institute
2006: Award – Honorary Doctorate of Science from Harvard University
2006: Award – Recipient of the Genetics Prize from the Peter Gruber Foundation
2006: Award – Co-recipient of Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences from the Wiley Foundation (shared with Carol W. Greider)
2006: Award – Co-recipient of Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (shared with Carol W. Greider and Jack Szostak)
2007: Award – Honorary Doctorate of Science from Princeton University
2007: Award – Co-recipient of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (shared with Carol W. Greider and Joseph G. Gall)
2007: Award – Corresponding Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
2008: Award – Recipient of L’Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science
2008: Career position – President, American Society for Cell Biology for the year 1998
2009: Award – Recipient of Mike Hogg Award
2009: Award – Co-recipient of Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (shared with Carol W. Greider)
2009: Award – Co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (with Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak)
2010: Award – Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) – For eminent service to science as a leader in the field of biomedical research, particularly through the discovery of telomerase and its role in the development of cancer and ageing of cells and through contributions as an international adviser in Bioethics.
2010: Career position – President, American Association for Cancer Research [for the year 2010]
2011: Award – Curtin Medal for Excellence in Medical Research, John Curtin School of Medical Research