At each end of our chromosomes lies a protective "cap" called a telomere – its function was discovered by Nobel Laureates Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak.
Blackburn used early DNA-sequencing techniques to show that telomeres were made up of short, repeated pieces of DNA. She and Szostak performed an experiment showing that telomeres from one species, a pond-dwelling single-celled organism called tetrahymena, could protect DNA molecules, or mini-chromosomes, from a very distant organism, yeast (see figure).
As telomere DNA from one organism, tetrahymena, protected chromosomes in an entirely different one, yeast, this demonstrated the existence of a previously unrecognised fundamental mechanism. Later on, it became evident that telomere DNA with its characteristic sequence is present in most plants and animals, from amoeba to humans.
Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak were the first to show that the unique DNA sequence contained in the telomeres serves to protect the chromosomes. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009 alongside Carol Greider.
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