His subsequent genetic and biomechanical studies of leukemia and other hemotologic disorders have led to tests of novel cancer therapeutic agents. The Gairdner Awards recognize outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. These UCSF Nobelists include Stan Prusiner, Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus. While a faculty member at UC Berkeley in 1985, Blackburn discovered telomerase, an enzyme built of RNA and protein that builds and stabilizes telomeres. Often compared with the plastic tip on a shoelace to keep it from unraveling, telomeres are DNA that protect the ends of chromosomes and keep a running count of how many divisions are left in a cell's life.
Telomeres shrink with each cell division, until they become so short that they tell the cell to die.
Blackburn and other scientists have found that telomerase research has important implications for cancer treatments. Because cancer cells have the ability to turn on telomerase, they can replicate without end. All rights reserved. Please direct all comments and questions to the Daybreak Editor . Please contact the UCSF Web Developer for questions of a technical nature.