More Telomere Complexity

As a companion to recent posts on telomere science, here's an example of yet more complexity in the engines inside our cells: "At the end of [chromosomes] are telomeres, zones of repeated chains of DNA that are often compared to the plastic tips on shoelaces because they prevent chromosomes from fraying, and thus genetic information from getting scrambled when cells divide. The telomere is like a cellular clock, because every time a cell divides, the telomere shortens. After a cell has grown and divided a few dozen times, the telomeres turn on an alarm system that prevents further division. If this clock doesn't function right, cells either end up with damaged chromosomes or they become 'immortal' and continue dividing endlessly - either way it's bad news and leads to cancer or disease. Understanding how telomeres function, and how this function can potentially be manipulated, is thus extremely important. ... It was thought that telomeres were 'silent' - that their DNA was not transcribed into strands of RNA. The researchers have turned this theory on its head by discovering telomeric RNA and showing that this RNA is transcribed from DNA on the telomere." All new understanding of how to manipulate telomere length will be eagerly applied by those groups working on telomere-based therapies for age-related conditions.

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-10/epfd-ntd100107.php

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