María Blasco

At a glance

• María Blasco is a Spanish molecular biologist. From 2011 to early 2025 she was director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in Madrid.
• Her research centres on telomeres, the protective ends of chromosomes, and the enzyme telomerase, and their role in ageing and cancer.
• As a postdoc in Carol Greider’s lab she helped create the first mice lacking telomerase, showing what happens when telomeres shorten generation after generation.
• Her team later showed that a telomerase gene therapy in adult and old mice extended healthy lifespan and lifespan without increasing cancer.
• She is also exploring applications in diseases with very short telomeres, such as lung fibrosis, and wrote the book Morir joven, a los 140 (2016) with journalist Mónica G. Salomone.
• For longevity, her work moved telomeres from a marker to a possible treatment target.
• Takeaway: telomerase therapy does not yet exist for humans; be wary of supplements promising to lengthen your telomeres.