2009 Nobel Prize for discovery of telomeres

Greider and Blackburn were awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discovery that telomeres are protected from progressive shortening by the enzyme telomerase. They were looking for the enzyme that was hypothesized to add extra DNA bases to the ends of chromosomes. Without the extra bases, which are added as repeats of a six-base pair motif, chromosomes are shortened during DNA replication, eventually resulting in chromosome deterioration and senescence or cancer-causing chromosome fusion. This led to the discovery of the telomerase, an enzyme that maintains the length and integrity of chromosome ends and is critical for the health and survival of all living cells and organisms.

Cell aging as a unique biomarker of major depression; Telomerase activity assays for diagnosing pathogenic infections; Screening method to identify inhibitors of telomerase activity; Method of screening for compounds that derepress or increase telomerase activity; Diagnostic method for conditions associated with elevated cellular levels of telomerase activity; Therapy & diagnosis of conditions related to telomere length &/or telomerase activity

Category:
Biology - Molecular Biology

Completion Status:
yes

Patent Number:
1156599;6300131;5876979

Co-Inventor:
Stella S. Lee; Siyuan Le; William H. Andrews; Ariel Athena Avilion; Junli Feng; Walter Funk; Maria Antonia Blasco Marhuenda; Bryant Villeponteau