Could Telomeres Be the Answer to Cancer and Aging in Cells

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Recommended: Current research on telomeres

Inside the nucleus of our cells, our genes are on double-stranded molecules of DNA called chromosomes. At the top and bottom of the chromosomes are fragments of DNA known as Telomeres which defend our genes, give us the ability for our cells to divide, and hold secrets to how we age and how we get cancer. Telomeres are like the ends of shoelaces (because they keep the chromosomes’ ends from fraying). But when a cell divides, the Telomere gets smaller and shorter. When they get too short, the cell can’t divide. The Telomeres then become “senescent” or inactive. This shortening is linked with aging, cancer, and death-risk. Telomeres should also be compared to a bomb fuse. Without Telomeres, the main part of the chromosome would get smaller whenever the cell divides. This can cause a malfunction or cancer. An enzyme named telomerase adds bases to the ends of Telomeres. In young cells, telomerase keeps Telomeres from wearing down too much. But as cells divide repeatedly, there is not enough telomerase, so the Telomeres grow shorter and the cells age. Telomerase remains active in sperm and eggs, which are passed from one generation to the next. If reproductive cells did not have telomerase to maintain the length of their Telomeres, any organism with such cells would soon go extinct.

Studies show that for the first time ever, changes in diet, exercise and stress management may result in longer Telomeres. Telomeres, as you may know, affect aging. The study was conducted by scientists at the University of California San Francisco and the Preventative Medicine Research Institute, a public nonprofit research institute in Sausalito California. For five years the researchers followed 35 men with prostate cancer in its earliest stages to tr...

... middle of paper ...

...s project is discovery of new high-penetrance genes as well as finding new low-penetrance gene modifiers of major genes in the human body.

Works Cited

“Are Telomeres the Key to Aging and Cancer?” Learn.Genetics.11 February 2014. University of Utah. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/chromosomes/Telomeres/

“Lifestyle Changes May Lengthen Telomeres, a Measure of Cell Aging.” UCSF. University of California San Francisco. 11 February 2014. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2013/09/108886/lifestyle-changes-may-lengthen-Telomeres-measure-cell-aging.

Telomerase and Cancer. 2014. Oxford University Press.11 February 2014. http://hmg.oxfordjournals.org/content/10/7/677.full

Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics 2014. National Cancer Institute. February 2014. http://dceg.cancer.gov/research/what-we-study/genes-host/dyskeratosis-congenita

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