Video: Elizabeth Blackburn on Her Nobel Prize-Winning Discovery, Inspiration in Science

Elizabeth Blackburn, professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at UC San Francisco, received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Her research on telomeres, tiny units of DNA that seal off the ends of chromosomes, led to her co-discovery of telomerase. This enzyme plays a pivotal role in cell function, and could underlie a range of degenerative conditions from aging to cancer.

Learn more about her groundbreaking work in this video.