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Telomere and enzyme telomerase

What is a Telomere?
Telomere (tel-uh-meer) from the Greek telos (end) and meros (part)

Telomeres are an essential part of human cells that affect how our cells age.

Telomeres are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes, like the plastic tips at the end of shoelaces.

Without the coating, shoelaces become frayed until they can no longer do their job, just as without telomeres, DNA strands become damaged and our cells can’t do their job.

Telomeres protect the vital information in our DNA

DNA makes up all of the cells in our body. It is the genetic material that makes us who we are. And every organ in our body (skin, liver, heart, etc.) is made up of cells. So, telomeres are vital to our health.

Our cells replenish by copying themselves. This happens constantly throughout our lives. Telomeres get shorter each time a cell copies itself, but the important DNA stays intact.

Eventually, telomeres get too short to do their job, causing our cells to age and stop functioning properly. Therefore, telomeres act as the aging clock in every cell.

Telomeres are shortened as we age, but telomeres can also be shortened by stress, smoking, obesity, lack of exercise and a poor diet.


src - https://www.tasciences.com/what-is-a-telomere/


Telomeres shorten as we get older causing aging in our cells.

We inherit telomeres from our parents, but no matter the length of our telomeres at birth, everyone’s get shorter as they age.

Shorter telomeres have a negative effect on our health.

Telomere shortening is the main cause of age-related break down of our cells.

When telomeres get too short, our cells can no longer reproduce, which causes our tissues to degenerate and eventually die.

Some cells, like those found in the skin, hair and immune system, are most affected by telomere shortening because they reproduce more often.


An enzyme called telomerase can slow, stop or perhaps even reverse the telomere shortening that happens as we age. The amount of telomerase in our bodies declines as we age.

Telomerase maintains and may even lengthen telomeres. Exposing human cells to telomerase slows cell aging and allows cells to begin copying again and longer telomeres cause gene expression to change to a younger phenotype which makes cells function as though they were younger.

There are other things we can do that might help restore telomere length or at least slow the loss of telomere length: reduce stress, stop smoking, lose weight, exercise more and eat a healthier diet.


src - https://www.tasciences.com/telomeres-and-cellular-aging/


Yet, each time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter. When they get too short, the cell can no longer divide; it becomes inactive or "senescent" or it dies. This shortening process is associated with aging, cancer, and a higher risk of death. So telomeres also have been compared with a bomb fuse.

src - https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/basics/telomeres/



ref - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomere