Graduate shows Nobel spirit
[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 5, No. 7
12 October - 8 November 2009 ]
The University of Melbourne congratulates alumna Professor Elizabeth Blackburn who recently became the first Australian woman to win a Nobel Prize.
“She is a University of Melbourne graduate of whom we can be tremendously proud,” Dean of Science, Professor Robert Saint, says.
Professor Blackburn was awarded the Nobel Prize along with colleagues Carol Greider, from Johns Hopkins University’s school of medicine, and Jack Szostak from Harvard University for their discovery of “how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”.
“We are delighted that Professor Blackburn has been awarded the Nobel Prize. Professor Blackburn’s research has contributed fundamentally to our understanding of chromosome structure through the discovery of the nature of telomeres and of the enzyme, telomerase, which maintains them.
“Telomeres play crucial roles in normal cellular growth and ageing and telomere function impacts on human diseases such as cancer,” Professor Saint says.
Professor Blackburn, who is now at the University of California at San Francisco, graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in the then biochemistry department from the University of Melbourne and has gone on to be a leader in the study of telomeres, the protective sections of DNA at the ends of chromosomes. These sections are required to maintain the normal structure of chromosomes.
Professor Saint says the impact of Professor Blackburn’s work was far-reaching and has broad implications for human health.
“Professor Blackburn showed great foresight in choosing to study a single-celled pond-dwelling organism in order to crack the telomere problem. She then used this information to understand how human telomeres work. It is a wonderful example of basic research leading to a major breakthrough.”
Professor Saint says Professor Blackburn showed enormous courage and leadership in opposing the politicisation of science, while she was a member of the US President’s Council on Biological Ethics.
Professor Blackburn, and her mother Marcia, a doctor, were both residents of Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne, Australia’s first university college to admit women.
In 2006, she won two prestigious international awards, the Lasker Prize for Medical Research and the Gruber Prize for Genetics. The citation for the Gruber Prize not only heralded her research, but also her science advocacy. Blackburn also was elected a Fellow of Janet Clarke Hall in 2006.
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