Carol Greider - Carol W. Greider Biography

Carol Greider was born on April 15, 1961 in California, United States.

Family of Carol Greider:

Carol Greider’s father, Kenneth Greider, used to be a physicist at the University of California. On the other hand, Carolyn’s mother Jean Greider was a cellular biologist. When Grider was seven years old her mother died. From an early age Carolyn grew up in an intellectual and scientific atmosphere which influenced her interest in biological sciences.

Training of Carol:

She went to school in Davis (California) and then enrolled at UC Santa Barbara where she graduated with a BA degree in Biology. Later on, she went to Berkeley for her post-grads.

Beginning of Research:

Elizabeth Blackburn was Carolyn's mentor at Berkeley who is known as one of the greatest molecular biologists. She has obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology with her thesis focusing on telomeres: protective structures located at chromosome ends.

Discovery of Telomerase:

In 1984 he and Blackburn identified this enzyme in tetrahymena thermophila, a ciliated organism having numerous telomeres. That is how telomerase got known as an addition of repetitive DNA sequences to telomeres that counteracts their shortening during cell replication. This discovery provided additional information about aging processes at cellular levels but also became important for cancer treatment since many types of cancers are characterized by telomerase activity indicating cellular immortality.

Later career:

Greider began her research career studying the structure of chromosome’s ends –telomeres–at Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory where she held faculty position. Here, using Tetrahymena model organism, she cloned gene encoding RNA component involved into synthesis process of repeated telomeric DNA sequences. She also demonstrated processivity of the enzyme and reconstituted it in vitro. Together with Calvin Harley she showed the relationship between telomere shortening and cellular senescence.

Development of Telomerase-Deficient Mouse Model

Later on, together with Ronald A. DePinho she developed a mouse model lacking telomerase expression as an outcome of which they concluded that, even though this enzyme is not indispensable for life, it leads to premature aging.

Position at Geron and Move to Johns Hopkins University

She held a position on the Scientific Advisory Board at Geron, a biotech company where she worked until 1997. In the same year Greider moved to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. While studying these mice that were deficient in telomerase, she observed that after some generations they became sterile.

Findings on Telomerase-Deficient Mice and Sterility

Her research also included biochemistry of telomerase, determination of its secondary structure and location of RNA template boundary. Furthermore, her work covered examination of different organisms’ telomeres especially yeast.

In 2014, she was named Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins School where she also chaired Molecular Biology and Genetics Department. Greider has served as a professor at UCSC since 2021. Her laboratory has been actively investigating Telomere Biology and its association with disease using different experimental tools and models.

Current Position at UCSC and Ongoing Research

Molecular biology and genetics have been immensely influenced by her work. She has published several scientific papers that have appeared in high impact journals.

Awards and honours:

She has won many awards for her work including the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine shared with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak, for their discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase, the United States National Medal of Science, and election into the National Academy of Sciences among other honors.

Private life:

She was married to Nathaniel C. Comfort from 1992 to 2011. They had two children.

Summary:

Did you know...

Since she struggled with dyslexia, it took her some time before she could be admitted for postgraduate training. She only managed to get into Caltech and UC Berkeley after applying to thirteen schools

Google Schoor's