, called telomerase . As cells divide , chromosomes need to be replicated perfectly . Work by the researchers determined that telomeres protect DNA from degradation in the process , and that telomerase maintains the telomeres . Though there had been some speculation that the three scientists were being considered for the Nobel , the committee keeps its work top secret -- and all three researchers said they were surprised . Szostak told CNN he got the news in `` that classic early morning phone call from Stockholm . '' He described it as `` surprising and exciting '' -- perhaps particularly for him because he has not worked on the subject for the past 20 years . `` I 've been working on other things , '' he said . `` It started off as a collaboration with me and Liz -LSB- Blackburn -RSB- -- Carol -LSB- Greider -RSB- was a student of hers . '' The work began as `` a long-standing puzzle that we were interested in solving , '' he said . `` It was only over later years that it emerged , through the work of many people , that this was probably important for
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Three U.S. researchers have won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for solving `` a major problem in biology , '' the Nobel Committee announced Monday . Jack Szostak , from left , Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn will share the $ 1.4 million prize . Elizabeth H. Blackburn , Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak are credited with discovering how chromosomes are protected against degradation -- a field that could shed light on human aging and diseases , including cancer . `` The award of the Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell , a discovery that has stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies , '' the committee said in a news release . The three will share the $ 1.4 million prize . It is the 100th year the prize will be awarded , and the first time that any Nobel in the sciences has gone to more than one woman . The work that won them the prize took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s . It centers on structures at the end of chromosomes called telomeres and an enzyme that forms them