StemCell Therapy

Chromosomes and DNA. adam.about.net

Updated December 30, 2014.

What is a Telomere?:

A chromosome is a long strand of DNA. At the end of a chromosome is a telomere, which acts like a bookend. Telomeres keep chomosomes protected and prevent them from fusing into rings or binding with other DNA. Telomeres play an important role in cell division.

What Happens When a Cell Divides?:

Each time a cell divides, the DNA unwraps and the information in the DNA is copied. The process does not copy all of the DNA information - the telomeres are not copied.

When the cell is finished dividing, the DNA comes back together. The telomeres lose a little bit of length each time this happens.

Why Do They Get Shorter?:

When a cell divides and copies DNA, the strands of DNA get snipped to enable the copying process. The places that are snipped are the telomeres. Since the telomeres do not contain any important information, more important parts of the DNA are protected. The telomeres get shorter each time a cell divides, like a pencil eraser gets shorter each time it's used.

Can Telomeres Become Too Short?:

The rest is here:
Telomeres and Aging - Understanding Cellular Aging

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