These end-points are often compared to the plastic protective covers on the tips of shoelaces. Much biological research overlooked the lowly telomere, preferring to focus on the chromosome as a whole.

Small plastic or metal bits at the end of shoelaces, known as aglets, prevent laces from unraveling and protect them from wear and tear. Similarly, chromosomes are capped by telomeres—specialized ...

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, PhD, will present the 2005 Gladstone Distinguished Lecture in Molecular and Cell Biology on Monday, March 7. Titled "Telomeres and Telomerase in Health and Disease," the ...

What does TTAGGG spell? If you’re human, it might spell long life. That’s the sequence of DNA building blocks that keeps our cells ticking. The sequence bears repeating, and the more it repeats, the ...

It’s long been thought that our cells stop dividing as we age as a natural preventative measure against cancer. Now a new study has found an intriguing piece of evidence supporting this hypothesis in ...

Telo-seq -- a new tool -- is bringing telomere science into its modern era. Scientists can finally explore questions about the role of telomeres in aging and cancer that were not accessible with ...

Telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, are an important component of healthy aging. One study found that vitamin D supplementation helps to minimize the shortening of telomeres, ...

Scientists investigate human telomere length to elucidate aging and diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. In normal mammalian cells, a small telomeric DNA segment is lost after each ...

A new study has surprised the medical world, finding that smoking does not shorten the length of telomeres -- a marker at the end of our chromosomes that is widely accepted as an indicator of aging.

Telomere Shortening and Aging Telomeres affect how our cells age. Once they lose a certain number of bases and become too short, the cell can no longer divide and be replicated. This inactivity or ...