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

What happens inside a black hole? The distressing possibilities

SPOILER ALERT! In a recent movie- Interstellar , 2014– an astronaut played by Matthew McConaughey and a rectangular robot fall into a black hole and survive to tell it.This movie featured a fancy scientific advice, such as the physical Kip Thorne , involved in the discovery of gravitational waves caused by the interaction of two black holes, but that did not prevent them from being too benign and fanciful when describing what could happen to you within a black hole. What happens inside a Black Hole? The distressing possibilities Black holes are points in the universe where the force of gravity is so intense that not even light can escape them.They can be the result of the collapse of red stars or the way in which Some galaxies are structured.This phenomenon was one of the predictions of the theory of relativity in the early twentieth century, with key contributions in the sixties and seventies, by physicists such as Stephen Hawking, and with a discovery in the new millenni...

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...

Is it possible to have two pupils in the same eye?

Having two pupils, is that possible? As we like strange things so much and everything that arouses curiosity, we discover something that will certainly impress you.Are you still with us? Is it possible to have two pupils in one eye? As you know, the pupil is a tiny hole located in the central part of the iris where light enters the inside of the eye; This hole dilates and contracts according to the surrounding clarity, and is apparently always black.It is responsible for regulating the light that reaches the retina, and we all have two, one in each eye.They move thanks to two muscles, pupil sphincters , which open and close it. Now, having two pupils sounds like science fiction, something you would see in Hollywood movies and, of course, it would be a distinctive feature of non-human beings, or of evolutionary processes to adapt to extreme and apocalyptic situations. But no, having two pupils, although it is an extremely rare condition, is not impossible, and has a medical na...

Cariaco: an amazing oceanic grave

There are numerous sea graves in the oceans of the world, abysses thousands of meters deep rarely visited by man, surpassed all by the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean , in the that is the deepest chasm of all, Challenger, with more than eleven kilometers. Those of the Atlantic are not as spectacular, and among them, that of Cariaco , in the The Caribbean Sea, would not be particularly noticeable, if not for a small detail: it is the only permanent anoxic basin in the world located in the open sea. The anoxic basins The Cariaco Trench is located on the eastern coast of Venezuela, west of the Araya Peninsula , between Cumana and the Margarita Island , and reaches a maximum depth of 1,400 meters, and after the Black Sea is the second largest anoxic basin in the world. Ruins of the castle of Araya, in the peninsula of the same name It is said that a basin is anoxic when after a certain depth there is no oxygen dissolved in the water, which dramatically reduces the p...

The science of beating your ex, according to an interesting study

They say that time can heal everything, even a broken heart...but why leave it all in time if you can begin to heal wounds with methods as effective as the one we have titled “ the science of overcoming your ex .”Do not thank us for what we will reveal below, the credit we give to the authors of this study, a group of scientists who have discovered how to treat the 'evil of love' by working a little in our minds. The science of beating your ex As a preamble, the co-author of the science of beating your ex , the psychology professor Sandra Langeslag of the University of Missouri, clarifies that feelings of love do not work as an on/off switch, as we well know.However, this study can serve as a starting point for anyone who is experiencing this entire series of intense emotions that derive from a love break, and that you want s uperarlas. The study, coping strategies and outcome For this study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 24 young a...

10 curiosities about twins

One of the natural phenomena that bind some chosen humans, and that surprises the rest that we do not enjoy that privilege, is the fact of having a twin .We have sounded in our childhood with that being that would be in all equal to us, with that faithful companion to which we would remain united and accompany us throughout life.Only some enjoy that privilege, the others will be content to know some of the curiosities surrounding monozygotic twins . 10 curiosities about twins 1.The twins , even if they are identical , don't have the same fingerprints . The footprints of the g They are the same at the beginning of pregnancy but between weeks 6 and 13 they begin to touch the amniotic sac when they move and this forms lines and ridges that will be different in each of them. 2. 25% of identical twins are a reflection and not a copy of their brother. One will be right-handed and the other left-handed, one will have a swirl in the hair to the right and the anothe...

Are we all connected?

Today, in Science Daily Online we bring you a phenomenon that seems recent, but has actually been studied for over 100 years.Do you want to know what it is? Theory of the Six Degrees of Separation confirms that any individual on our planet is connected to another with a set/chain of acquaintances with no more than 5 points of union or links.Based on this theory, only 6 steps separate us from another person on Earth.Six levels or degrees. The initial idea arose in 1929 by the writer Frigyes Karinth , in a story called Chains . Only 6 levels separate us from a stranger Later, in 1967, Stanley Milgran , a well-known sociologist, investigated this phenomenon with an experiment to prove the theory.To do this, American inhabitants of the Central part participated-West of America , c on the objective of delivering a package to a stranger in the city of Massachusetts, located thousands of kilometers away.The idea was to provide data such as the name, general location and lo...

5 indications that a child is a victim of bullying

In all countries of the world and in all ages children and young people have been victims of bullying .Luckily, as now, society is never aware of this problem and there are numerous organisms that have been created to fight against that problem.However, it is sometimes difficult to know that our children or young people are suffering from this torture.We hope to help you with these 5 indicative of that a child is a victim of bullying. 5 indications that a child is a victim of bullying 1.Reluctance to go to school for Tomorrow It is one of the signs that there is a problem.The reluctance in the morning to wake up and leave to go to school may indicate that you are being a victim of bullying.It is usually accompanied by excuses such as headaches or tummy and is especially noticeable on Mondays already that you have to abandon the security you had at home at the weekend.Teenagers don't excuse themselves, they just don't go. 2.Loss or change of friends ...

How to deal with someone suffering from anxiety: keys

Hi Science Daily Online ! Before reading the article we would like you to know a new way to discover our curious world, through Youtube ! We have a channel that we would love to be a part of.You can subscribe and meet him here-> YouTube Science Daily Online! Does anyone close to you suffer anxiety? But not that kind of normal anxiety that we feel when we have an appointment or when we have to talk to our boss, we mean an anxiety disorder; that mental disorder that causes the person to suffer from an abnormal fear and anguish frequently. If so, these keys to dealing with someone suffering from anxiety will be very useful. How to deal with someone suffering from anxiety: keys Suffering anxiety is a rather complicated disorder that modifies a person's life completely. Anxiety causes the chemistry of the brain to change and the person sees things in a negative way, in addition, this disorder is characterized by the affected person suffers from frequent anxiety atta...

What is the age of planet Earth?

The age of planet Earth is something that scientists have been discussing for a long time.The first calculation was made in the middle of the century XVII from the data extracted from the book of Genesis.Since that time other experiments and calculations have been carried out that, with greater or lesser scientific rigor, have tried to clarify this question. Already in 1654 , A scholar named John Lightfoot , whose calculations were based on the book of Genesis in the Bible, proclaimed that the Earth had been created precisely at 9 o'clock.tomorrow, Mesopotamia time, on October 26 of the year 4004 BC . At the beginning of the XVIII century, a scientist, the count of Buffon , warmed a small replica of the planet he created and measured the speed to which it cooled.Based on these data I estimate that the Earth was about 75,000 years old. In the 19th century, the Physical Lord Kelvin I use different equations to establish that the Earth was between 20 and 4...

Science Daily Online

Search This Blog