Telomerase was discovered by Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and colleagues over 25 years ago.
"And this was discovered by Liz Blackburn and Carol Greider and colleagues over 25 years ago, and they were showing how if you knock it down, the cells cannot divide anymore, and if you upregulate it, the cells become immortal." (said at 0:11:48)
No published record matching the claim was located; this does not prove the claim false.
corroborated by web sources
Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn discovered the enzyme telomerase in 1984 at the University of California, Berkeley. For this discovery and their research into how chromosomes are protected by telomeres, Greider, Blackburn, and Jack Szostak were awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.