Скачать или смотреть Thi Hoang Duong (Kelly) Nguyen, PhD, 2026 Blavatnik Awards in the UK Laureate in Life Sciences

The processes of ageing and cancer are closely linked to the function of a critical enzyme, telomerase, which elongates the ends of chromosomes after each round of cell division. This makes telomerase an ideal therapeutic target for premature ageing syndromes and cancers. Despite the central role of telomerase in mammalian biology, its structure has remained elusive. Molecular biologist Thi Hoang Duong (Kelly) Nguyen, PhD, employed high-resolution microscopy to generate the first-ever atomic model of telomerase. This structural insight has revealed information about how telomerase is recruited to, and interacts with, DNA and other proteins to prevent chromosomal ends from erosion. Importantly, Nguyen has identified a site of many disease-causing mutations within this structure, expanding our knowledge of how telomerase activity is disrupted in disease and charting a path toward therapeutic approaches that target telomerase.
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