A Question of Attitude; Stress and Ageing  

Oleh:

[s.n]

Jenis: Article from Bulletin/Magazine
Dalam koleksi: The Economist (http://search.proquest.com/) vol. 399 no. 8728 (Apr. 2011), page 78-79.
Topik: Telomers; Chromosomes; Old Age; Cancer; Immune System; Ageing

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Perpustakaan Pusat (Semanggi) Nomor Panggil: EE29.65 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

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Telomers are to chromosomes what plastic caps are to shoelaces--they stop them fraying at the ends. Unlike shoelaces, though, chromosomes replicate themselves from time to time as the cells they are in divide. This shortens the telomere and, after 50-70 such divisions (a number known as the Hayflick limit, after its discoverer), a chromosome can grow no shorter and the cell it is in can divide no more. That provides a backstop against cancer. The rapidly dividing cells in a tumour soon hit the Hayflick limit and the process is brought to a screeching halt. Which is a good thing. The bad thing is that reaching the limit is one of the markers of old age. You do not want it to happen too quickly, particularly in tissues that have to do a lot of dividing in order to work properly, such as those in the immune system.

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