Telomeres And Lifespan
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - 07:30
in Health & Medicine
Telomeres, regions of repetitive DNA, capping the end of chromosomes, protect said chromosomes from deterioration during subsequent cell divisions, and are thought to play an important role in the aging process. As such, many people believe/hope that preventing this deterioration from happening might mitigate the effects of aging (although aging is a very complex process, with, as of yet, many gaps in the understanding of it). The telomeres, however, appear to play a role of some importance. The discovery of telomerase, an enzyme that replenishes the telomeres, even led to the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2009 for its discoverers, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. read more