Elizabeth Blackburn and the Story of Telomeres: Deciphering the Ends of DNA

Science News,  Feb 9, 2008  

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ELIZABETH BLACKBURN AND THE STORY OF TELOMERES: Deciphering the Ends of DNA CATHERINE BRADY

In 1976, molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn discovered telomeros when she noticed a series of repeated cytosine bases at the tips of chromosomes in a single-celled microbe The tips protect vital genes from being lopped off each time a cell divides. Though her finding had huge implications for chromosome replication and cell survival, it caused hardly a tremor in the scientific community at the time. A decade later, Blackburn and biologist Carol Greider identified the enzyme telomerase, which extends cell life by maintaining telomeres. When the enzyme decreases, cells die. Telomerase likewise received scant attention until Blackburn showed it to be reactivated in cancer cells. Almost immediately, the enzyme was heralded as the cure for cancer and age-related disease, and Blackburn had to then downplay the hype about telomerase. Blackburn later made headlines when she was dismissed from President Bush's Bioethics Advisory Council for her views on stem cell policy. In telling Blackburn's story, Brady touches on cell biology; the tension between basic research and biotechnology; science, and policy; and the pressures that women continue to face in male-dominated labs. MIT Press, 2007, 392 p., b&w photos, hardcover, $29.95.

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