Nobel Prize winner to deliver public lecture

  The first Australian-born woman to win a Nobel Prize will deliver a public lecture on her ground-breaking science at the University on March 12. Professor Blackburn won the Noble Prize for Medicine in 2009. She pioneered the study of telomeres (caps that protect chromosomes in cells), and co-discovered telomerase (an enzyme that helps build and stabilise chromosomes). These discoveries and research have opened a new field of science, raising the prospects of medical breakthroughs such as interfering with cancerous cells. In her lecture Professor Blackburn will explain how telomere length decreases during ageing, an effect that is slowed down by telomerase. Professor Blackburn will also elaborate on t...