Science alumna becomes first Australian woman to win Nobel Prize
A SCIENCE alumna whose groundbreaking work in molecular biology identified a key switch in cellular ageing has become the first Australian woman to win a Nobel Prize.
Professor Elizabeth Blackburn (BSc (Hons) 1970 MSc 1972) was jointly awarded the 10 million Swedish kroner ($1.6 million) Nobel Prize for Medicine with her US-based colleagues, Carol Greider and Jack W. Szostak, on Monday, 5 October.
The team is credited for its work on telomeres - the protective sections of DNA at the ends of chromosomes - and discovery of telomerase, an enzyme that does the protecting.
University of Melbourne Dean of Science Professor Robert Saint said the impact of Professor Blackburn's work was far-reaching and had broad implications for human health.
"Professor Blackburn's research has contributed fundamentally to our understanding of chromosome structure through the discovery of the nature of telomeres and of the enzyme, telomerase, which maintains them," he said.
"Telomeres play crucial roles in normal cellular growth and ageing and telomere function impacts on human diseases such as cancer."
Professor Saint said the Nobel laureate had studied a single-celled pond-dwelling organism to crack the telomere problem.
"She and her colleagues then used this information to understand how human telomeres work," he said."It is a wonderful example of basic research leading to a major breakthrough."
Professor Blackburn was a scholarship student who lived at Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne for three years, while studying her Bachelor of Science.
She is now based at the University of California in San Francisco, where her work is focused on the effect psychological stress has on cell regeneration.
To read an ABC News article on Professor Elizabeth Blackburn, please visit www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/05/2705473.htm. 
Pictured top: Nobel Laureate Professor Elizabeth Blackburn in her lab at the University of California, San Francisco (Photo by Elisabeth Fall/fallfoto.com)
Pictured left: Nobel Laureate Professor Elizabeth Blackburn visits Janet Clarke Hall (JCH) at the University of Melbourne. From left to right: Professor Ruth Fincher (chair of JCH council), Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis, Professor Blackburn, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Peter Rathjen, College Fellow and Laureate Professor Adrienne Clarke and Dr Damian Powell (Principal JCH).