tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92087717378167819762024-02-07T09:00:24.543-08:00The discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeresEvgenyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13914940394143115439noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9208771737816781976.post-964653933208243682011-06-01T06:24:00.000-07:002011-06-01T06:24:56.139-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwm0ERRfOsF49xoZ736WQ4ZxOFdhwA7RAm4epGwRetjlLfzugm58C5ZdpXs_xWiUgcQw9CtqtJJRhn5t7qfyA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
</div>Evgenyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13914940394143115439noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9208771737816781976.post-59087741182028481972011-04-26T04:55:00.001-07:002011-04-26T04:59:17.569-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisI04TcpE6Su4iiZUuYcqI6lO0UueWgm6ohqUmSSQPuWAcNkxIWwiohZ7S648MhUqwsgS-f1brhvH6ZOf7IOMY_LZ2jH3ej5mnOnMeIn8JbubeC1MM_Mb0S1gSjGptJonmhcvhSsr7c7U/s1600/med_2009_lectures_photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisI04TcpE6Su4iiZUuYcqI6lO0UueWgm6ohqUmSSQPuWAcNkxIWwiohZ7S648MhUqwsgS-f1brhvH6ZOf7IOMY_LZ2jH3ej5mnOnMeIn8JbubeC1MM_Mb0S1gSjGptJonmhcvhSsr7c7U/s320/med_2009_lectures_photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Jack William Szostak (born November 9, 1952) is an American biologist of Polish British descent and Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Alexander Rich Distinguished Investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. He was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol W. Greider, for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnjbgQVnhX-kVQ9REwf_hSG7iB3aGmbsb0ZeJ8wGjWSt0xj6-UCCkx6W-9puvY2X5_EW-8o_tiNQnTzA_f2qlwy1hUVY1G3GItkGj-S9BspNL_GAIFtzzEuiSTj1-WdgPuj9TUClI__I/s1600/szostak_postcard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnjbgQVnhX-kVQ9REwf_hSG7iB3aGmbsb0ZeJ8wGjWSt0xj6-UCCkx6W-9puvY2X5_EW-8o_tiNQnTzA_f2qlwy1hUVY1G3GItkGj-S9BspNL_GAIFtzzEuiSTj1-WdgPuj9TUClI__I/s320/szostak_postcard.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Contents </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">1 Early life</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">2 Research</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">3 Awards and honors</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">4 Notes</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">5 References</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">6 See also</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">7 External links</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Early life</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Szostak grew up in Montreal and Ottawa. Although Szostak does not speak Polish, he stated in an interview with Wprost weekly that he remembers his Polish roots. He attended Riverdale High School (Quebec) and graduated at the age of 15 with the scholars prize. He graduated with a B.Sc in cell biology from McGill University at the age of 19. In 1970, as an undergraduate, he participated in The Jackson Laboratory's Summer Student Program under the mentorship of Dr. Chen K. Chai. He completed his PhD in biochemistry at Cornell University (advisor Prof. Ray Wu) before moving to Harvard Medical School to start his own lab at the Sydney Farber Cancer Institute. He credits Ruth Sager for giving him his job there when he had little yet to show. In 1984 Howard Goodman lured him away to Massachusetts General Hospital and the Department of Molecular Biology. He was granted tenure and a full professorship at Harvard Medical School in 1988.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Research</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Szostak has made contributions to the field of genetics. He is credited with the construction of the world's first yeast artificial chromosome. That achievement helped scientists to map the location of genes in mammals and to develop techniques for manipulating genes. His achievements in this area are also instrumental to the Human Genome Project.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">His discoveries have helped to clarify the events that lead to chromosomal recombination—the reshuffling of genes that occurs during meiosis—and the function of telomeres, the specialized DNA sequences at the tips of chromosomes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Currently, his lab focuses on the challenges of understanding the origin of life on Earth, and the construction of artificial cellular life in the laboratory.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Awards and honors</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Szostak has received several awards and honors for his contributions. He is a member of National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences and New York Academy of Sciences. He has received the following awards:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">United States National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Hans Sigrist Prize, University of Bern, Switzerland</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Genetics Society of America Medal</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The 2006 Lasker Award</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The 2008 Dr A.H. Heineken Prize</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (shared with Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol W. Greider)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Evgenyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13914940394143115439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9208771737816781976.post-33210771676499524902011-04-26T04:38:00.000-07:002011-04-26T04:38:39.296-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhNwFRovnVrhPVR3kmjUnxdROK8k2DX0L5nC9SpcxsJy5UVvlV8TJSpAhCbLeos7RZ8WBv_J3qEHe0Okjhv3kut3I52NnC02nuyFKGGms08fK8rWerTybQH6WNoLm9sGdN3u2d6nRX2is/s1600/Szostak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhNwFRovnVrhPVR3kmjUnxdROK8k2DX0L5nC9SpcxsJy5UVvlV8TJSpAhCbLeos7RZ8WBv_J3qEHe0Okjhv3kut3I52NnC02nuyFKGGms08fK8rWerTybQH6WNoLm9sGdN3u2d6nRX2is/s1600/Szostak.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jack W. Szostak</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My laboratory is interested in the related challenges of understanding the origin of life on the early earth, and constructing synthetic cellular life in the laboratory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Focusing on artificial life frees us to explore novel chemical systems, but what we learn from these systems helps us to understand possible pathways leading to the origin of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our basic design for a synthetic cell involves the encapsulation of a spontaneously replicating nucleic acid, which acts as the genetic material, within a spontaneously replicating membrane boundary, which provides spatial localization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are using chemical synthesis to make nucleic acids with modified nucleobases and sugar-phosphate backbones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our goal is generate a nucleic acid system that can replicate accurately and rapidly, without enzymatic assistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have developed a membrane vesicle system that allows for the repeated growth and division of the vesicles, without the involvement of any biochemical machinery. When we combine the nucleic and membrane systems, we can see limited nucleic acid replication within our membrane vesicles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once we achieve repeated cycles of replication of the combined system, we expect to see evolutionary forces come into play, leading to the spontaneous emergence of nucleic acid sequences that contribute to the fitness of the artificial cell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are now considering the kinds of innovations could most easily arise and confer a selective advantage at the cellular level. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Subject areas for rotation projects:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">1) Explore prebiotic nucleic acid replication using a chemical model system.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">2) Explore the biophysics of our replicating vesicles system. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSybRjc6ctVI1zlbtIqEW33JRHzCYB1Lfyejw55EXWsIGAcEXGM8hJvF0upkqMj11dRudT7-RpcMRx_azEcKxQExIwG96rAcY96uZ6dc3zoXwjqkHGa4ktHbxPbJdWNyuaharb3qEmEc/s1600/JSzostak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSybRjc6ctVI1zlbtIqEW33JRHzCYB1Lfyejw55EXWsIGAcEXGM8hJvF0upkqMj11dRudT7-RpcMRx_azEcKxQExIwG96rAcY96uZ6dc3zoXwjqkHGa4ktHbxPbJdWNyuaharb3qEmEc/s1600/JSzostak.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Evgenyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13914940394143115439noreply@blogger.com6