University Times

Elizabeth Blackburn, a University of California at San Francisco professor who discovered the important DNA repair enzyme telomerase, will receive the 1999-2000 Dickson Prize in Medicine in conjunction with her 4 p.m. lecture today, "Telomere Capping and Cell Proliferation," in Scaife Hall's Lecture Room 6.

Blackburn's discovery of telomerase has revolutionized molecular genetics. The enzyme is responsible for maintaining the ends, or telomeres, of chromosomes, the threadlike structures containing genes. Telomeres protect chromosomes so they can separate appropriately during cell division. Most cells do not produce telomerase; consequently, telomeres shorten with each cell division. Eventually, they disappear, resulting in cell death.

Cancer cells, however, often continue producing telomerase, perhaps explaining why such cells continue to accumulate. Recently, scientists have added the gene for telomerase to various cells, virtually immortalizing them and yielding continuously dividing cultures of cells that could replace those lost to disease, injury or aging.

The Dickson Prize in Medicine, awarded annually by Pitt's medical school, recognizes persons who have made significant, progressive contributions to medicine. It is one of two prizes established by the estates of Joseph Z. Dickson and Agnes Fischer Dickson to honor outstanding leaders in medicine and science. Carnegie Mellon awards the Dickson Prize in Science.