steingar
Taxi to Parking
Liz Blackburn, Jack Szostak, and Carol Greider, for their discoveries in telomere biology. 'Bout time.
Agreed. Since most of us aren't scientists, care to share why this is important?
STOCKHOLM – Americans Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak won the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discovering a key mechanism in the genetic operations of cells, an insight that has inspired new lines of research into cancer.
It was the first time two women have been among the winners of the medicine prize.
The trio solved the mystery of how chromosomes, the rod-like structures that carry DNA, protect themselves from degrading when cells divide.
Sounds like organic check bits.Due to the way linear molecules of DNA are replicated, you can never completely duplicate a DNA molecule (like our chromosomes). Best you can do is loose bits off the end. If you want to know why that is in greater detail feed me beer at a fly-in and prepare to listen for awhile.
Since you can't replicate linear DNA molecules, and all of our chromosomes are linear, something has to be done. If you delete a bit of your chromosome every time you duplicate the genome you're going to start loosing important bits sooner or later. The answer most organisms have realized are these bits of DNA at the ends of chromosomes called telomeres. These are just repeated bits of basically nonsense DNA, but they are hugely important, because as DNA is replicated you loose telomere sequences, but not genomic DNA. The telomeres in you old farts are smaller than they are in us younger men, and are even longer in all those whippersnappers.
This is hugely important in terms of health and medicine because of the implications, especially in cancer. Human cells do not express telomerase, the enzyme that synthesizes telomeres. Tumor cells replicate sufficiently to use up their telomere sequences, and thus would be subject to genetic loss without a new supply. Hence most tumor cells increase the expression of the telomerase biosynthetic apparatus, to avoid wholesale genetic deletions. Indeed, if you express telomerase, as well as a couple other genes, you can turn most cells into tumor cells.
There are tons of other implications, but again fodder for a future fly-in.
Sounds like organic check bits.
he telomeres in you old farts are smaller than they are in us younger men
I just checked and mine is as long as it ever was.
I just checked and mine is as long as it ever was.
i apparently didnt purchase enough 5 dollar words in college. laymans terms, please?
Parts of the DNA chain fall off during lab-replication. These smart people are finding a way around it.
i apparently didnt purchase enough 5 dollar words in college. laymans terms, please?
We're all gonna die because our cells can't reproduce forever, so eventually damage to the organism accumulates. Or because our cells become cancerous.i apparently didnt purchase enough 5 dollar words in college. laymans terms, please?
We're all gonna die because our cells can't reproduce forever, so eventually damage to the organism accumulates. Or because our cells become cancerous.
Parts of the DNA chain fall off during replication.
Dr. Dave is killing me with laughter on this thread.
So, let me get this straight. If we can replenish the telomere sequences, then the important bits of DNA won't get used up during replication, and we can avoid health issues associated with aging?
So, let me get this straight. If we can replenish the telomere sequences, then the important bits of DNA won't get used up during replication, and we can avoid health issues associated with aging?