Photo: Flickr / TED Conference / CC BY-NC 2.0
Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn - scientist and Nobel laureate - reported in her TED Talk from November 2017 on revealing findings and the potential of modern regenerative medicine.
Dr. Blackburn is a pioneer of molecular biology. In 2009 she received the Nobel Prize for her research into the molecular structure of telomeres, which are the ends of our chromosomes (chromosomes contain our genetic information, bundled and stored as DNA), and for the co-discovery of telomerase activity - telomerase is the enzyme that regenerates our telomeres, because they degenerate and shorten with age as cell division steadily progresses. If our telomeres become too short, signs of aging appear along with an increased risk of suffering from age-related diseases. Telomeres and telomerase play a central role in the aging process and in age-associated diseases, as well as in understanding cancer.
She was also president of the American Association for Cancer Research and of the American Society for Cell Biology.
In the TED Talk, besides her past and her early interest in biological questions, Dr. Blackburn also talks about the fact that telomeres do not shorten over time in all organisms. Algae in ponds, for example, always maintain their telomerase concentration regardless of the age of their cells - biologically speaking, they do not age and do not become senescent, because their telomeres are permanently renewed by the enzyme. She also discusses further findings, such as that negative psychological factors, for example poor stress management, influence the presence of telomerase in our cells and that chronic mental strain can lead to premature aging. Conversely, it has been shown that positive social conditions such as lifelong friendships or partnerships lead to better maintenance of telomerase activity in old age. So through our lifestyle and our psyche, we have the opportunity to actively influence the extension of our healthspan in old age.
Toward the end of her talk, Dr. Blackburn says that she is curious how these findings will affect the next generation of people. It depends, she says, on whether we invest in the next generation of scientists who want to discover solutions to medical questions that we have not even considered yet.
Author: Udo Schmidtke, Party for Health Research