7 November 2005
World-renowned scientist Professor Elizabeth Blackburn will explore new developments in cell preservation and the fight against cancer and diseases of ageing at a public lecture tomorrow, Tuesday 8 November.
Professor Blackburn is the Louis Matheson Distinguished Visiting Professor at Monash University and the Morris Herzstein Professor of Biology and Physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco.
She is one of the world's leading cancer biologists and was a member of the US Council of Bioethics appointed by US President George Bush to consider the use of human embryonic stem cells in research.
In 1984 Professor Blackburn and her colleagues discovered telomerase -- the enzyme that replenishes the DNA molecules of telomeres. Telomeres protect chromosome ends from damage.
Professor Blackburn said that, in contrast to many normal cells in human adults, telomerase was especially active in cancer cells.
"As a result, cancer cells can keep dividing indefinitely. Human cancers typically become dependent on these greatly elevated levels of telomerase," she said.
"Our recent work focuses on targeting telomeres and telomerase and exploiting the high level of telomerase to turn it into a liability for cancer cells."
Recently, Professor Blackburn and colleagues have also found that low telomerase levels in white blood cells are associated with six of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including chronic psychological stress.
Who: Professor Elizabeth Blackburn
What: Chromosome Ends, Life, Death and Cancer public lecture
Where: Cinema 2, Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Federation Square
When: 6.30pm, Tuesday 8 November
For more information or to arrange interviews contact Ms Diane Squires in Media Communications on +613 9905 9315 or 0417 603 400.
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