Enzymes can be considered as the machines that carry out the majority of the chemical reactions that take place inside our body. These unique enzymes provide the work that is being done inside the cells. For over a century, scientist have been studying and experimenting with these proteins. Enzymes can be associated with a number of different things that take place in the body. For example, an enzyme can be the root to cancer cells. Researching about these highly chemically reactant enzymes has led to the discovery of a fairly new enzyme called Telomerase. Telomerase is an enzyme that is associated with the addition of nucleotides to telomerase (Yu-Sheng Cong). This enzyme is highly known for its activity with human cells, but most importantly, …show more content…
After endless amount of research, scientist have noticed that every time a cell divides, the telomere gets shorter. If the telomere gets shorter, the cell is no longer able to divide, which then results in the termination of the cell. Scientists at the University of Utah, have associated the shortening of the telomeres with the causes of aging, deadly cancers, and higher risks of death (Richard Cawthon). Richard Cawthon, a geneticist at the University of Utah, has found that shorter telomeres are associated with shorter lives. Dr. Cawthon found that people among the ages of 60 and older that had shorter telomeres were three times more likely to die from heart disease and eight times more likely to die of infectious diseases. Research has discovered that rapidly dividing cells in tissues that are involved with telomerase cause the most defects in humans. Defects is telomerase is what causes the fatal cancers that humans tend to suffer with. Some of the areas that defected telomerase affects in human cells are tissues like skin, gut, and bone marrow (Marciniak R, Guarente L). To this day, telomerase has been discovered to be the main contributor to approximately 90% of tumor samples (Kim NW). What scientist have been trying to experiment with is, if telomerase is associated with the immortalization of cancer cells, then maybe they can make it to where the enzyme can prevent aging and even the prevention of different cancer
“Are Telomeres the Key to Aging and Cancer?” Learn.Genetics.11 February 2014. University of Utah. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/chromosomes/Telomeres/
In current society, cancer is one of the most fatal and prevalent diseases to exist. However, new research being conducted on telomeres and telomerase provides insight on not only the aging process and mortality of cells, but also on how the idea of cell death connects to cancer cells. By gaining knowledge on the supposed immortality of cancer cells, researchers are acquiring a higher understanding of the subject, and attempting to work on alternate techniques to provide treatment for the illness. The connection between telomeres and cancer and the momentous discoveries being made on them is revolutionizing the world through potential current and future applications that have significant implications for cancer treatment, and society, the economy, and technology.
Progeria occurs because there is a mutation in LMNA, a gene that produces specific protein, lamin A protein, that plays an integral role in holding a cell’s nucleus together. This mutation leads to the production of progerin, a protein that causes the nucleus to be unstable. With this instability comes “the process of premature aging and disease in Progeria.(1)” The accumulation of the protein Progerin also affects telomeres, proteins that contribute to the aging process of cells and leads to telomere disfunction.
-- Contrary to some clinical studies, there is inconclusive scientific evidence to support the theory of increasing a person’s lifespan
...nescence is result of a combination of the antagonist pleiotropy theory, mutation accumulation theory and disposable soma theory. The three evolutionary theories claim that natural selection is weak and ineffective in sustaining reproduction, growth, survival and somatic repair during the post-reproductive years causing genetic diseases in older individuals compared to younger individuals. As biological processes shut down, older individuals develop a weak immune system that can no longer fight the deleterious genes and mutations leading to death. Moreover, the evolutionary theories paved way for new research in gerontology that led to the development of new genetic theories of aging. The definite cause of genetic diseases in older individuals is yet to be determined, but all theories suggest that senescence is an inevitable process that all organisms experience.
Enzymes in general are very interesting to learn from and are fundamental in carrying out processes in various organisms. Enzymes are proteins that control the speed of reactions, they help quicken the rate of the reaction and also help cells to communicate with each other. There are 3 main groups of enzymes, first are the metabolic enzymes that control breathing, thinking, talking, moving, and immunity. Next are the digestive enzymes that digest food and normally end with –ase, there are 22 known digestive enzymes and examples of these are Amylase, Protease, and Lipase. The final group are the Food or plant enzymes which is what my enzyme that I’m studying falls under. Papain gets its name because it comes from papaya fruit, its main purpose is to break down proteins and break peptide bonds however it is not only used in the Papaya fruit and has many external uses. It was also very helpful in the 1950s when scientists were trying to understand enzymes. It also helps us to this day understand Protein structural studies and peptide mapping. Without enzymes, reactions in the body would not happen fast enough and would tarnish our way of life which is why it is vital that we study and learn from them.
Newbold, R. F. (2002). The significance of telomerase activation and cellular immortalization in human cancer. Mutagenesis, 17(6), 539-550.
'Telomere at senescence' A chromosome of an adult cell with the telomere labeled 'Telomere shortens after multiple replications' In 1961, Leonard Hayflick and Paul Moorhead made an astonishing discovery that human cells originating from embryonic tissues could only divide a limited number of times in culture, known as the Hayflick Limit.2 This is called cellular senescence and eventually leads to cell death. According to the National Institute of Aging (NIA),3 “DNA damage build-up occurs when a cell divides and passes its genetic information on to its two daughter cells. Telomeres shorten each time a cell divides. In most cells, the telomeres eventually reach a critical length when the cell stops proliferation and become senescent.” Due to Hayflick and Moorhead’s research, it was found that the telomeres, which are located at the ends of DNA, become shorter as...
In today’s society, what was once said to be true and taken as fact regarding older people is no longer the whole story. As Laslett states, “At all times before the middle of the twentieth century and all over the globe the greater part of human life potential has been wasted, by people dying before their allotted time was up.” (1989a), and to a great extent a lot
A report recently published by the American Cancer Society stated “About 1,685,210 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2016”. However some new studies may have found the light at the end of the tunnel, telomeres. People with dyskeratosis congenita (as described above) have 1000 fold increased risk to get oral cancer. This theory of the linkage between telomere length and cancer came around in the 90’s but only just recently became provable. In a majority of cancer it was proven that many cells had critically shorter telomere length leading to unstable chromosomes. When a cell becomes cancerous, their chromosomes become unstable and uncontrollable. The cells continue to divide until the telomere becomes very short but what differs cancer cells from healthy cells is telomerase, which will maintain the cells telomere length and prevent death. Scientist believe if they can measure telomeres length and block telomerase they can predict and stop the cancer cell growth. In a recent experiment on mice with breast cancer, scientist were able to block telomerase and stop the growth of the cancer. However it had side effects like impaired fertility, wound healing, and production of blood cells and immune system cells(Are Telomeres The Key To Aging And Cancer?). Telomerase targeting could be the answer we are searching for but additional research is needed to further establish the exact roles
Enzymes are biological macromolecule that acts as catalysts and increase the rate of a chemical reaction. Without enzymes, life, as we know about it, would not exist. Enzymes function by deceasing the activation energy and stabilizing the transition state of a chemical reaction without altering the thermodynamic of reaction (#1 Boyer). At the molecular level, enzymes catalyze these reactions by binding to the substrate or reactants to form an enzyme-substrate complex. The reaction takes place while the substrate is bound to the enzyme and converting the substrate to the new product. The new product is then released from the enzyme substrate complex, and the enzyme is then free to bind with more substrate. E+S → ES → E+P (#1 Boyer). Based on
S. Jay Olshansky, and Bruce A. Carnes . The quest for immortality science at the frontiers of aging. United States of America: W.W. Norton, 2001. Print.
When extrinsic mortality rates increase, they lower the probability of survival and cause the strength of selection to decline faster with age which increase in intrinsic morality rates with age. Age is defined as the length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed. To age well is to maintain your physical and mental health as you grow older. Age is marked by certain stages, aging well can be considered the freedom from disease and an active engagement with life. Some lifestyle choices with respect to aging well can be exercising and dieting. Growing old does affect our hair, skin, heart, muscles and more but aging well is possible if we incorporate a healthy lifestyle. There are two mechanisms that mediate aging. They are proton leakage, and telomere damage. The proton leakage is when the growth rate and metabolic rate cause energy flow to increase. When these genes mediate energy metabolism could cause aging. The telomere is a protective cap at the end of chromosomes that are shorten with each cell division. When they deteriorate away the next cell divisions unsuccessfully duplicate the
Discoveries in DNA, cell biology, evolution, and biotechnology have been among the major achievements in biology over the past 200 years, with accelerated discoveries and insight’s over the last 50 years. Consider the progress we have made in these areas of human knowledge. Present at least three of the discoveries you find to be the most important and describe their significance to society, health, and the culture of modern life. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a self-replicating molecule or material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent in chromosomes. It encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and many viruses.
Aging, as exhibited within the immunity theory, was described as a pre-programmed accumulation of damage, decay and decline within the function of the immune system caused by oxidative stress as a result of the Hayflick limit or biological clock (Touhy and Jett, 2012). This limit refers to the idea that aging is the result of cell and organisms containing a genetically predetermined life span (Touhy and Jett, 2012). This suggested that in relation to a cell’s proliferative instinct, aging becomes more relevant within an individual when the cells reach the limit, introducing cellular errors of imperfect proliferations that result into further damage. Furthermore, no cell within the body has seemed to be above this concept, including the B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes of the immune system. In fact, cellular errors within the immune system have been found to cultivate an autoregressive phenomenon in which normal cells are misidentified as foreign and are consequently destroyed by the body’s own immune system (Touhy and Jett, 2012). The dest...