In the 1970s, I did a Ph.D. with Fred Sanger in Cambridge who was in the process of inventing ways to map… — Elizabeth Blackburn 1970s Copy Share Image
One characteristic aspect of ageing is the increased susceptibility to disease, particularly age-related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. — Elizabeth Blackburn Ageing Copy Share Image
If a test showed you had telomere shortening, it would be a red flag suggesting you should take a look at possible… — Elizabeth Blackburn Flag Copy Share Image
Ageing is so many different things, and cells being able to self-renew is part of the picture but not all of it. — Elizabeth Blackburn Ageing Copy Share Image
Challenges in medicine are moving from 'Treat the symptoms after the house is on fire' to 'Can we preserve the house intact?' — Elizabeth Blackburn Challenges Copy Share Image
What is it that keeps you so interested in the telomere? It's so intricate and complicated, and you want to know how… — Elizabeth Blackburn Complicated Copy Share Image
In my early work, our molecular views of telomeres were first focused on the DNA. — Elizabeth Blackburn Dna Copy Share Image
Biology sometimes reveals its fundamental principles through what may seem at first to be arcane and bizarre. — Elizabeth Blackburn Biology Copy Share Image
We and other groups are seeing clear statistical links between telomere shortness and risk for a variety of diseases that are becoming… — Elizabeth Blackburn Becoming Copy Share Image
As maize became important for human food worldwide, modern agricultural research on maize breeding continued the corn breeding begun thousands of years… — Elizabeth Blackburn American Copy Share Image
When you bring telomerase RNA levels down by using a mechanism that targets the RNA for destruction, the cells which were running… — Elizabeth Blackburn Cells Copy Share Image
Telomeres are the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes in cells. Chromosomes carry the genetic information. Telomeres are buffers. They are… — Elizabeth Blackburn Cells Copy Share Image
Basically, when you look at different types of cells, such as fibroblasts, which form connective tissue, or epithelial cells, from saliva, you… — Elizabeth Blackburn Different types Copy Share Image
We're involved in a very large study that's federally funded and being done with Kaiser Permanente, and saliva is a very non-invasive… — Elizabeth Blackburn Being Copy Share Image
I decided I wanted to go to Cambridge, and then I got introduced to Fred Sanger. I was very conscientious, and I… — Elizabeth Blackburn Go Copy Share Image
The conservative statement is that telomere length is a biomarker, but it's probably not passive. There are some very intimate relationships between… — Elizabeth Blackburn Conservative Copy Share Image
I'm pretty good about getting some exercise every day - well, most days. The secret for me was to put the elliptical… — Elizabeth Blackburn Day Copy Share Image
I was using very unconventional methods to sequence the telemetric DNA, originally. — Elizabeth Blackburn Dna Copy Share Image
If we think of our chromosomes - they carry our genetic material - as being like shoelaces, I work on the plastic… — Elizabeth Blackburn Being Copy Share Image
Perhaps arising from a fascination with animals, biology seemed the most interesting of sciences to me as a child. — Elizabeth Blackburn Animals Copy Share Image
Being senior enough in the field, having enough solidity, I don't feel afraid of being marginalized. — Elizabeth Blackburn Afraid Copy Share Image
Checking your telomere length is a bit like weighing yourself: you get this single number which depends on a lot of factors.… — Elizabeth Blackburn Health Copy Share Image
Researchers have found that the brain definitely sends nerves directly to organs of the immune system and not just to the heart… — Elizabeth Blackburn Body Copy Share Image
I chose biochemistry as my major and graduated after 4 years with an Honours degree in Biochemistry. During that time, I had… — Elizabeth Blackburn Biochemistry Copy Share Image
No one ever said, 'Be a doctor.' But because so many members of my extended family - aunts, uncles - were doctors,… — Elizabeth Blackburn Doctor Copy Share Image
This enzyme, called telomerase, slows the rate at which telomeres degrade, and research indicates that healthy people with longer telomeres have less… — Elizabeth Blackburn Big Copy Share Image
I spent my first 4 years living in the tiny town of Snug, by the sea near Hobart. Curious about animals, I… — Elizabeth Blackburn Animals Copy Share Image
Cancer cells have a lot of other things that are really wrong with them, and we should never forget that these are… — Elizabeth Blackburn Body Copy Share Image
Cancer cells have had so many other things go wrong with them, genetic, non-genetic changes, that those cells, one of the things… — Elizabeth Blackburn Cancer Copy Share Image
Observational studies show that exercise, nutritional supplements and reducing psychological stress can help. Chronic high stress and smoking can lead to accelerated… — Elizabeth Blackburn Fitness Copy Share Image
Generally, we try to have a situation where the person is healthy, so you're not confounded by disease. So, that means that… — Elizabeth Blackburn Blood Copy Share Image
“Remember, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Don’t be too timid or squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more… — Elizabeth Blackburn Experiment Copy Share Image
We think there are lifestyle factors that boost telomerase naturally. — Elizabeth Blackburn Boost Copy Share Image
When scientists get old, they get interested in the brain, and I'm a little bit afraid I'm falling into that. — Elizabeth Blackburn Afraid Copy Share Image
I've only actively promoted what we always hope is good science. — Elizabeth Blackburn Always Copy Share Image
At Cambridge, there was a completely unintimidating culture, and there were no class divisions among the students. — Elizabeth Blackburn Cambridge Copy Share Image
“Fyodor Dostoevsky: “Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the… — Elizabeth Blackburn Dostoevsky Copy Share Image
In humans, the thing is that as we mature, our telomeres slowly wear down. So the question has always been: 'Did that… — Elizabeth Blackburn Always Copy Share Image
In 2004, results from a study that I worked on with colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, linked chronic stress… — Elizabeth Blackburn California Copy Share Image
We're collecting about 100,000 telomere lengths in saliva samples and then looking at how those relate to both the extensive longitudinal clinical… — Elizabeth Blackburn About Copy Share Image
