Definition

The telomere is a part of a chromosome and in particular the part that is at the end of a chromosome.

Characteristics

Some characteristics of the telomeres are:

• they protect the end region of the chromosome from degradation and from mistake during the DNA repair process.
• they shorten at each cells division.
• thanks to the activity of an enzyme called telomerase that has the function to create and replace telomeres, they lengthen.
• they can help to understand how quickly a cells age and die based on how quickly they shorten.

In the book The Telomere Effect is reported that the length of the telomeres and how quickly they shorten are indicators of the health of a person. Others articles suggest that these correlations are not clear.

Related Questions:

• What is a chromosome

Related Topics:

• Health
• Health - Definitions
• Cellular senescence

References

• The Telomere Effect | 2020 | Elizabeth Blackburn, Elissa Epel
• Is Telomere Length a Biomarker of Aging? A Review | 2011 | KA Mather, AF Jorm, RA Parslow, H Christensen