The most dangerous cancer cells are actually the ones that are more like stem cells, which have this ability to produce themselves over and over again. More and more cancer biologists say stem-cell-like cells in cancers are the most dangerous. Elizabeth Blackburn abilitybiologistcancer share on social
For me, arguably the story of telomeres and telomerase began thousands of years ago, in the cornfields of the Maya highlands of Central America. Elizabeth Blackburn agoamericaarguably Change image and share on social
As maize became important for human food worldwide, modern agricultural research on maize breeding continued the corn breeding begun thousands of years ago in the Central American highlands. Elizabeth Blackburn agoagriculturalamerican Change image and share on social
I was born in the small city of Hobart in Tasmania, Australia, in 1948. My parents were family physicians. My grandfather and great grandfather on my mother's side were geologists. Elizabeth Blackburn australiabearcity Change image and share on social
The conservative statement is that telomere length is a biomarker, but it's probably not passive. There are some very intimate relationships between things such as molecular markers for inflammation and telomere health. Elizabeth Blackburn biomarkerconservativehealth share on social
Challenges in medicine are moving from 'Treat the symptoms after the house is on fire' to 'Can we preserve the house intact?' Elizabeth Blackburn challengefirehouse Change image and share on social
I decided I wanted to go to Cambridge, and then I got introduced to Fred Sanger. I was very conscientious, and I asked him when I first got there if I should start reading up on things. But he said, 'No, I think you can just start these experiments,' so I plunged right in. Elizabeth Blackburn askcambridgeconscientious share on social
At Cambridge, there was a completely unintimidating culture, and there were no class divisions among the students. Elizabeth Blackburn cambridgeclasscompletely Change image and share on social
In humans, the thing is that as we mature, our telomeres slowly wear down. So the question has always been: 'Did that matter?' Well, more and more, it seems like it matters. Elizabeth Blackburn humanmattermature Change image and share on social
The goal is to learn more about telomere length and other markers of ageing, how best to measure these markers, how they are related to health and lifestyle, and how people respond to learning their own telomere length results. Elizabeth Blackburn agegoalhealth share on social
