Telomeros: The clocks of life

The human species has been able to increase its life expectancy year after year, however our biology places a limit on us.And the cumulus of damage in cells product of aging prevents our body from existing indefinitely, our life time is controlled by a kind of hourglasses...How long does we have left to live ? Can we be able to cheat the clock ? Come and discover more about telomeros.

What are telomeros?

All human beings have 46 chromosomes which are arranged in 23 pairs ; In general, it can be said that the shape of the chromosomes is similar to the letter "X", the chromosome is composed of long and short arms, other important parts are the centromere (central part that joins the arms) and the telomero (extreme part of the arms).

These telomeres are sequences of repeated DNA that are located at the ends of the chromosomes as " Capuchon ”, preventing them from deteriorating or merging with other chromosomes, which would cause serious genetic problems .Telomeres play a fundamental role during the cell division , the Shortening of telomeres during this process is inevitable and limits the number of times a normal cell can replicate , approximately 50 throughout life.The minimum size that a functional telomere can have is known as the limit of Hayflick and indicates that when the cell reaches smaller sizes it will begin its death process .Also being the telomere of chromosome 3 the shortest of the whole game, it is thought that it could be the trigger of cell death.

In other words we could say that very short telomeres allow a smaller amount of divisions causing a reduced longevity and on the contrary longer telomeres involve greater longevity .When we are born there are no significant differences between the length of the telomeres of men and women, however, as aging occurs, the telomeres of women end up being longer than in men, this phenomenon is still unexplained but could be the reason why Women tend to live longer years than men.

How to repair telomeres?

The secret to a longer life lies in the length of the telomeres, then being able to control the size of the telomeres and keep them in a good size could give us more years of life, since it turns out that we are not so far from controlling the telomeres thanks to the discovery of the enzyme 'telomerase' whose function is to lengthen and maintain telomeric regions.

Telomeros: The clocks of life

Experiments in mice have demonstrated the ability to increase the life of these animals even in a 24% after a treatment in which the production of the enzyme telomerase was induced.However, the danger is latent since if the telomerase concentrations are very high, it could ac tivar the tumor cells and cause cancer since they favor the immortality of malignant cells.Then the success of this therapy focuses on being able to extend life by maintaining the telomeres without producing cancer.

Likewise, Telomerase is normally active in fetal cells and after birth it is gradually deactivated in all cells except in normal stem cells and in some cells of the immune system.On the other hand, sperm and ovules already they have long telomeres and do not have telomerase activity.

Future applications

The immediate application is to test the effectiveness of drugs telomerase inhibitors as a possible antitumor therapy, alleviate the diseases associated with aging by re-introducing telomerase into cells with short telomeres, tissue production and differentiation in vitro from adult stem cells, which also need telomerase to divide indefinitely.

Telomeros: The clocks of life

The most promising application focuses on delaying aging, a common cause that triggers the appearance of diseases as the resistance to insulin or cardiovascular diseases, the incidence of which increases with age.Then, if we treated the aging of the cells, we could prevent the appearance of these diseases .that the study of the telomere and its telomerase will bring us many surprises in the not too distant future.

If you have been interested in this article, you may want to know more about why we need DNA from a man and a woman.

Comments

Superfetacion: the phenomenon that allows you to get pregnant while pregnant

It is generally believed that it is impossible to get pregnant when, in fact, you are pregnant.However, Superfetacion arrives to prove that this is not quite true. Stay and we will tell you ! Superfetacion: the phenomenon that allows you to get pregnant while pregnant As you have read it: it is perfectly possible-although really very unlikely-to get pregnant when you are already pregnant.All this happens thanks to a phenomenon called "Superfetacion", which occurs when twins are conceived several days or weeks apart, the result of two separate ovulations and can be from two different parents or the same father, happening the fertilization of the second after the first has already been implanted. The superfetacion process is commonly found in several animal species such as sheep, horses or rodents. However , in humans it happens only in exceptional cases. And now comes the Question around your mind: Why and how can this happen? This is an error in the process c...

And you, also "procrastins"?

And you? Procrastines too? If you don't, we are sure that you know someone who does it continuously and that, surely, makes you despair.But what does this disturbing word really mean? Let's give an example: you have been dating a person for a long time, you make plans for the future, you have many illusions and projects, however, your partner never seems to decide.He is unable to formalize your relationship because something like that, not only overwhelms him, but even He is lazy. "Are we not well like that?" I often reproach you. Let's give another example: you may have the classic friend who never seems to finish his studies.It is easy to be an "eternal" university student who faces the responsibilities and anxieties of the working world. And what about people who spend all their time in front of a computer screen letting out "real life" ? Sometimes, it is much easier to let ourselves go, evading responsibilities, than to put means t...

How long is love?

How long does love last? The eternal question of those who are in love.Does love last for a lifetime? Does it last 2, 4, 7 years? How long does love last for us? According to anthropologist Helen Fisher love comes to last for some 4 years .Just that first period of infatuation in which the sexual attraction is very important and in which at the end, touching the 4 years, there is offspring., then, in the second phase which is the carino , in which together we raise and educate, and in which that initial sensation fades away.Finally, comes the desire for separation.And, According to this anthropologist, this process is natural, since our organism cannot bear for a long time the ferris wheel of sensations that we feel, due to the chemistry that is generated when we fall in love : the high levels of dopamine, testosterone and norepinephrine that our brain secretes.That is why they have an expiration date: between 1 and 4 years! Researchers at the University of Pisa al...

Studying a university degree online may be your best option

There comes a time in life when it is time to make the decision to study a university career. Surely it has happened to you and the fact that you think you should spend long hours sitting at a desk in front of a teacher talking for an eternity, added to having to get up early and move to classes, or maybe in the city where you live there is not a good university or there is simply no career you like, it is a real headache. But that concern can be over, because with online careers, it has never been so easy and comfortable to be able to qualify as a professional with the endorsement of renowned universities. Study a career Online university may be your best option Why study at a distance? For some years studying online has had more strength of what one came to believe at some point.The amount of advantages offered by one of the online careers offered by different universities around the world make this modality one of the best options no Only for those who begin the proce...

The curious use of analgesics in the past

Through time, the history has been unraveling the way of life of our ancestors, their customs and beliefs , among them, the way they fought pain Physically using different types of analgesics, which helped them deal with their ailments. Various anthropological investigations have shown that ancient cultures developed methods to fight against the ailments of their bodies In fact, through these studies it was discovered that they coped with different pathologies ranging from dental abscesses to open fractures. The opium poppy goddess and Memphis stone in Egypt The goddess opium poppy represented in broad strokes the effects of opium , considered a gift from the gods for its sedative and analgesic effects.The goddess carries in her crown part of this seed, representing the typical cuts that are made for obtaining n of the juice of this substance. In addition to controlling pain, it is known that the Egyptians used the opium poppy so that children would not cry at nigh...

Why are we born with clear eyes?

At birth, it is common for babies to have a different eye color than they will later have.Many breasts, many potatoes and, above all, many grandmother, go crazy at the idea of having a small blue eyes -as if the dark eyes that everyone in the family has were something bad-What a shame they take after, when they see that they have finally inherited the familiar eye color!

Do you know how long ago HIV exists? Will horrify you

Although HIV made its spectacular appearance in the early 80s of the last century, it was years before the origin of this retrovirus could be determined, and in the meantime there was a debate about whether it was a natural disease or rather, a human invention, in the style of Frankenstein, a virus escaped from laboratories where biological weapons were developed. Today it is known that it is a natural disease, not less deadly, considering that There are about 35 million infected in the world and 2 million more are infected annually.However, one question has persisted: how long does HIV exist, and apparently we already have an answer. Do you know? How long has HIV been there? It will horrify you Although AIDS was identified in the 80s, researchers today believe that the disease arose in equatorial Africa, where several strains of this retrovirus affected different species of chimpanzees and cercocebus ( gray mangabey ); happening in two or three occasions to the human beings (t...

How to react to a betrayal by our partners?

A betrayal is much more than the fact that someone we love deceives us with another person. It is the breaking of a pact , of a commitment that two people had implicitly established, without need for agreements, contracts or signatures. Now, it should also be noted that there are many types of betrayals, and we are not talking only of an infidelity.It is often said that there is another type of pain and humiliation, as it can be emotional betrayal. They are people who can lie to us for a long time, playing with our emotions and feelings without betraying us with third parties.However, love who say they offer us, is not sincere. How should we react to these types of situations? There is one thing that is clear. Not all of us are equal , and not all of us find relief with the same strategies.Moreover, there are couples, for example, who even accept that their spouses have parallel relationships, however, also in these cases there is some kind of emotional limit that must be ...

The rainbow eucalyptus, the most incredible tree in the world

The Rainbow Eucalyptus. You may think that we have used Photoshop to impact you with such a color, that the images are not real and that we have used the imagination, to create an incredible and magical tree. But we assure you that it is completely real, that the "Eucalyptus deglupta" is another wonder of our nature that is worth knowing.Are you joining us on this fantastic walk? Rainbow eucalyptus, a symphony of colors It smells good.It is not particularly high, but it usually looks in its bark such a suggestive color, which sometimes makes those who believe They find with them that some artist has been able to "broaden" with these trees using the brushes and paints to decorate their trunks. But as you know, there is no one else ca prichoso and imaginative that nature itself.It is she who through her good arts and great projects, gives us with these unique creatures of the forests that make us sound so much.The rainbow eucalyptus are native to th...

Oscar, the cat who senses death

If you are a cat lover , surely you would have sensed on occasion, that "something special" that our little furry friends show.Their looks, shine with the brightness of those magical creatures that They seem to live between two worlds.From those who understand in silence, from those who know how to read everyday aspects that many of us miss. It is possible.An example of all this can certainly be this cat.His name? Oscar.A seemingly normal cat that was adopted by the Steere House nursing department and taken to the Providence Rehabilitation Center, specializing in the care of people with severe dementia. Oscar has a special gift: he senses the moment when a person is going to die. Something that a principle was nothing more than a simple coincidence, gradually became study material for the geriatrics professor from the center and assistant at Brown University in Rhode Island. We give you more information below. Little Oscar and his unique ability They say Oscar...

Science Daily Online

Search This Blog