Three American scientists Elizabeth Blackburn (University of California, San Fransisco) , Carol Greider (Johns Hopkins University) and Jack Szostak (Harvard Medical School), have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.

Telomere

In short:

“Telomeres are the tails of chromosomes; they are an indicator of history and replicative potential of the cell. Research in the last three decades indicates that telomeres are key factors in several biological fields such as cancer and ageing. Because of the long lifespan of humans and their short telomeres, attrition in telomere length may be a major determinant of human ageing not only at cellular level, but also at organ and perhaps systemic levels. The research contributed to the understanding of how telomeres protect chromosomes from degradation and identified telomerase, the enzyme that preserves telomere length and integrity.” (read the full article here)

Recent studies carried out by the prize recipients have shown that the enzyme telomerase has restorative capabilities for telomeres and can help keep these cells in a healthy condition. Dr. Jean Pierre Baeyens, of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics says “…the ageing process remains a large domain of research and all mechanisms are not depicted yet. These recent discoveries are a real step forward to attract young scientist to the new fields of research and clinical practice in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology.”

Click here to watch a video of the Nobel Prize announcement, with a short explanatory presentation of the work.