Getting older is a fact of life. From the day humans are born they begin aging. From babies to toddlers, to children to teens, to adults and then elderly. Scientists are still researching how aging happens. Some theories suggest that eating is linked to telomeres, whose research has been gaining traction in the world of science. But what are they?
Telomeres are protective caps at the end of DNA molecules that make up our chromosomes. The job of these telomeres is to stop the end of chromosomes from fraying or sticking to one another--this can be compared to the aglet on a shoelace. Telomeres play an important role in our DNA because they make sure when the DNA is copied the cells divide properly. DNA replication is very particular and when the nucleotides reach the end of the strand, they do not turn into new copies of DNA. This can lead to loss of some genetic information as DNA strands get shorter and shorter with every cell division. This leads to the question of how do our cells have any DNA at all?
This is the job of telomeres. Telomeres will exist on the same sequence of six nucleotides to repeat it over and over and this is what makes them disposable. Telomeres have an extremely important role: they protect the DNA so the telomeres will get shorter but the DNA will not and therefore the genetic information will be protected and not lost as the telomeres decrease in size. In egg and sperm cells there’s an enzyme called telomerase, which adds more of the repeating sequence onto the end of DNA strands so that the telomeres in the cells do not shorten in other cells. Telomerase is less active which leads to the gradual shortening of telomeres over the span of many years. The shortening of telomeres is one of the factors that can cause cells to age when cells can no longer divide; because telomeres are too short they become inactive and since the cells cannot repair they will die. Telomeres can also send out signals for cells that may need to be repaired or have problems.
Telomeres also complete a very critical role to prevent cancer. What are the reasons that the lives of the cells cannot be boosted? It is because we have innate prevention for cancer and that would be compromised and since cancer is an uncontrolled cell division.The length of telomeres isn’t the only factor that plays a role--the shape and structure are important factors as well. Telomeres that are healthy will look like paper clips with loops at the end of the chromosomes and the end would be safely tucked away and protected. When the loop unfolds the end of the DNA is exposed which would cause cell division to stop and the cell may die because it would not respond to damage from other sources. This is what ultimately leads to the aging process; it would be the slow degradation of the cells after the caps of DNA protection are gone.
There’s a lot of information science has not been able to explain just yet. Even if telomeres are longer, we can’t for sure say that this would extend our lives, but there are factors that can impact the shortening of telomeres such as smoking, UV light exposure, and many others. This can speed up the degradation process of the telomeres and since they do such a good job of protecting us we should return the favor and make sure we’re doing the best we can to protect them too.
Purnima Chopra
References:
Callaway, Ewen. “Telomerase Reverses Ageing Process : Nature News.” Www.Nature.Com, 28 Nov. 2010, www.nature.com/news/2010/101128/full/news.2010.635.html.
curious. “What Are Telomeres?” Curious, 10 Oct. 2018, www.science.org./curious/people-medicine/what-are-telomeres.
“Hidden Secret of Immortality Enzyme Telomerase: Can We Stay Young Forever, or Even Recapture Lost Youth?” ScienceDaily, 27 Feb. 2018, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180227142114.htm.
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