Illustrated Presentation
Nobel Poster from the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, web adapted by
Nobel Web
Contents
Background
Telomere DNA protects the chromosomes
Telomerase builds telomere DNA
Telomerase and disease
Credits and references
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009 jointly to Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
Born 1948
University of California,
San Francisco, USA
Born 1961
Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine,
Baltimore, USA
Born 1952
Harvard Medical School,
Boston, USA
The award recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism that has added a new dimension to our understanding of the cell, shed light on disease mechanisms, and stimulated the development of potential new therapies.
Telomere DNA protects the chromosomes
Elizabeth Blackburn studied the single-cell organism Tetrahymena thermophila and had found that the ends of chromosomes contain a short DNA sequence repeated many times.
Jack Szostak studied yeast cells and observed that linear artificial minichromosomes were rapidly degraded. Together they decided to test if telomere DNA from Tetrahymena could protect minichromosomes in yeast.
Telomerase builds telomere DNA
How are telomeres formed? Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn asked if an enzyme might synthesize telomeres.
Telomerase and disease
The discovery of telomere function and telomerase has broad medical implications in many fields including cancer, ageing and certain inherited diseases.
Credits and references for the 2009 Nobel Poster for Physiology or Medicine
Scientific Advisors, Professors at Karolinska Institutet: Göran K. Hansson, Medicine. Secretary of the Nobel Assembly; Klas Kärre, Immunology. Chair of the Nobel Committee; Nils-Göran Larsson, Genetics; Thomas Perlmann, Developmental Biology; Rune Toftgård, Cancer Biology.
Illustrations and layout: Annika Röhl, Bengt Gullbing
Printed by Alfaprint, Stockholm 2009
Copyright © 2009 The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine at Karolinska Institutet
SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Web adapted version: Nobelprize.org
Nobel Prize® and the Nobel Prize® medal design mark are the registered trademarks of the Nobel Foundation.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
