The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009

Today the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009 was announced by the Nobel Foundation. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and, Jack W. Szostak are sharing the prize “for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”. We had a number of people correctly guess the winners in our Guess-A-Nobel Contest and we’ll make a formal announcement about who gets an iPod Touch once the Chemistry and Physics winners are announced.
From the press release:

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to three scientists who have solved a major problem in biology: how the chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation. The Nobel Laureates have shown that the solution is to be found in the ends of the chromosomes – the telomeres – and in an enzyme that forms them – telomerase.
The long, thread-like DNA molecules that carry our genes are packed into chromosomes, the telomeres being the caps on their ends. Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak discovered that a unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation. Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn identified telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomere DNA. These discoveries explained how the ends of the chromosomes are protected by the telomeres and that they are built by telomerase.
If the telomeres are shortened, cells age. Conversely, if telomerase activity is high, telomere length is maintained, and cellular senescence is delayed. This is the case in cancer cells, which can be considered to have eternal life. Certain inherited diseases, in contrast, are characterized by a defective telomerase, resulting in damaged cells. The award of the Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell, a discovery that has stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies.

Link at The Nobel Foundation: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009…
Press release…