William H. Andrews (biologist)

William H. Andrews
Born (1951-12-10) December 10, 1951 (age 72)
Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Georgia
AwardsIPO National Inventor of the Year (second place)
Scientific career
FieldsMolecular biology
InstitutionsSierra Sciences

William Henry Andrews (born December 10, 1951) is an American molecular biologist and gerontologist whose career is centered on searching for a cure for human aging. Andrews is the founder and president of the biotechnology company Sierra Sciences.[1] In the 1990s, he led the team at Geron Corporation that was the first to successfully identify the genes for human enzyme telomerase.[2][3][4][5] This enzyme is responsible for preventing telomeres from shortening in human primordial germ cells (reproductive cells).[6]

  1. ^ Andrews, B. (2011), "Personal Profile: Interview with Bill Andrews, Ph.D.", Rejuvenation Research, 14 (4): 457–461, doi:10.1089/rej.2011.1237, PMID 21851179
  2. ^ The Man Who Would Stop Time, Popular Science, 2011
  3. ^ Mammalian telomerase, United States Patent, 1996
  4. ^ Feng, J; Funk, WD; Wang, SS; et al. (1995), "The RNA component of human telomerase.", Science, 269 (5228): 1236–41, Bibcode:1995Sci...269.1236F, doi:10.1126/science.7544491, PMID 7544491, S2CID 9440710
  5. ^ Telomerase, United States Patent, 2001
  6. ^ Zvereva, M. I.; Shcherbakova, D. M.; Dontsova, O. A. (2010). "Telomerase: structure, functions, and activity regulation". Biochemistry. Biokhimiia. 75 (13): 1563–1583. doi:10.1134/s0006297910130055. ISSN 1608-3040. PMID 21417995. S2CID 15987343.