Elizabeth Blackburn has become the first
Australian female Nobel prize laureate.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

Tasmanian-born US scientist Professor Elizabeth Blackburn has become Australia's first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

The discovery of an enzyme that keeps chromosomes eternally young and could help scientists to treat cancer earned Professor Blackburn the Nobel prize for medicine, along with two of her colleagues, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak.

"Elizabeth Blackburn is an exceptionally talented Australian cell biologist who has made important contributions to our understanding of how cells in each new generation renew their potential to grow, develop and live for a normal lifespan," said Professor Bob Williamson from the University of Melbourne, and Secretary for Science Policy of the Australian Academy of Science.

The work on telomerase, which earned Professor Blackburn science's top prize on 5 October 2009, also provides insight into cancer and other diseases, and may give rise to new treatments, according to Professor Williamson.

"It is now known that telomerase is an enzyme that 85 per cent of all cancers depend on for their continuing growth.  This discovery may make it possible to treat most cancers by developing anticancer drugs that block the activity of telomerase," said Professor Roger Reddel from the Children's Medical Research Institute, Sydney.

"The research also has implications for ageing, and for a number of inherited diseases," he added.

"Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider showed amazing insight in predicting the existence of this enzyme and then setting out to find it. Their work, along with that of Jack Szostak, is also a beautiful illustration of the potential value of basic research in model organisms," said Associate Professor Tracy Bryan and Dr Scott Cohen from the Children's Medical Research Institute.

“What an excellent choice...all of us at the Australian Academy of Science are proud she is one of our Fellows,” said Professor Williamson. 

Professor Blackburn was born in Hobart and graduated with a BSc from the Univeristy of Melbourne. She is currently the Morris Herztein Professor of Biology and Physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco.