Why Do Our Bodies Age?
For thousands of years famous explorers have searched to find the solution to stop or reverse the aging process. Today people turn to harsh treatments like chemical peels and Botox injections. But not any of those solutions are solutions to the core problem. Our cells divide every day and the new cells’ DNA does not get a perfect copy.So the core problem is that our CELLS age. The most obvious aging of our cells that we see is in our skin as we develop wrinkles, age spots, dryness, discoloring and more. In every cell we have our chromosomes and the end caps ...
The Search for Links Between Telomeres and Anti-Aging
Since telomeres were discovered and the mechanism behind them elucidated during the 1970s, there has now emerged the question of the relationship between telomeres and anti-aging. Before discerning the relationship between telomeres and anti-aging, let us take a look at what telomeres are. Telomeres are repetitive DNA strands found in tail ends of chromosomes. Telomeres are the ultimate arbiters of whether a cell will continue dividing or not: as long as the telomeres of a cell are long enough, the cell can still divide, but for each division, the telomeres get shorter. The telomere will shorten to the extent that the ...
The Benefits of Why We Should Continue Telomere Research
Telomere research is a very integral segment of cell physiology. Telomeres are repetitive sequences of DNA found at the tip of a chromosome. In 1970, a Russian scientist Alexei Olovnikov first noticed that the tips of chromosomes do not divide at all, and so he then suggested that whenever a cell divides, some parts of that "tip" shed off, until the loss is so substantial such that the cell cannot divide any further, and so dies. A little while later, Elizabeth Blackburn, while doing postdoctoral studies at Yale, determines that these telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at chromosome tips. The ...
Telomere Products and What They Can Mean for Your Life
An exciting team of Noble Prize winning scientists have made telomeres popular. They have even brought about a bit of authenticity to the link between telomeres and anti-aging. One of the ingredients discovered is called teprenone, which people are using in different anti-aging lotions and skin care products. It is also sometimes called Renovage. So, why are telomeres important and how do they work, and what can the latest telomere products do for us? I always think it's important to explain it in the most basic way possible. Let's just break it down like this. Telomeres are on the end of ...
The Function of Telomerase
When the cell replicates and divides, the sequence of nucleotides slowly gets shorter, and the telomere length declines as well. The shortening of the telomeres is believed to be the source of cellular damage, causing the cell division process to slow down as well. Slow, cellular decline leads to dysfunction which causes death. The telomerase enzyme helps to stop the loss of gene information during DNA replication. The telomerase enzyme is at the helm for maintaining cell division behaviors. Many different proteins and a string of RNA make up telomerase. Telomerase enzymes seem to halt the cellular cycle of aging by ...
Short Telomeres Contribute to Emphysema in Smokers
New research shows the role of short Telomeres in emphysema, a lung disease mostly developed in people who smoke cigarettes. This is a deadly disease for which no treatment has been found yet. In emphysema, the alveoli, which are the small air sacs that exchange oxygen in the lungs, are lost. This means less oxygen can be inhaled and therefore less oxygen is available in the body. This is most commonly found in older people who smoke and sometimes, yet very rarely, in non-smokers. This disease is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States with growing numbers. ...
Oct 11
11
Why Do Our Bodies Age?
For thousands of years famous explorers have searched to find the solution to stop or reverse the aging process. Today people turn to harsh treatments like chemical peels and Botox injections. But not any of those solutions are solutions to the core problem.
Our cells divide every day and the new cells’ DNA does not get a perfect copy.So the core problem is that our CELLS age. The most obvious aging of our cells that we see is in our skin as we develop wrinkles, age spots, dryness, discoloring and more.
In every cell we have our chromosomes and the end caps of those are called Telomeres. Every time our cells divide, those Telomeres get shorter. This is a protection mechanism to keep most of the DNA coding, on the inside of the chromosome, intact. However, that shortening of the Telomeres is the core reason WHY our BODIES AGE.
Since telomeres were discovered and the mechanism behind them elucidated during the 1970s, there has now emerged the question of the relationship between telomeres and anti-aging. Before discerning the relationship between telomeres and anti-aging, let us take a look at what telomeres are.
Telomeres are repetitive DNA strands found in tail ends of chromosomes. Telomeres are the ultimate arbiters of whether a cell will continue dividing or not: as long as the telomeres of a cell are long enough, the cell can still divide, but for each division, the telomeres get shorter. The telomere will shorten to the extent that the cell cannot divide anymore, and then just dies.
Now, telomeres also serve to prevent chromosomes from fusing together, because if such happens, then the genetic material comprising the cell will become mixed up, and that can lead to cancer.
Telomere research is a very integral segment of cell physiology. Telomeres are repetitive sequences of DNA found at the tip of a chromosome. In 1970, a Russian scientist Alexei Olovnikov first noticed that the tips of chromosomes do not divide at all, and so he then suggested that whenever a cell divides, some parts of that “tip” shed off, until the loss is so substantial such that the cell cannot divide any further, and so dies. A little while later, Elizabeth Blackburn, while doing postdoctoral studies at Yale, determines that these telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences at chromosome tips. The telomere does indeed shorten at each cell division, so a cell can’t divide perpetually – the length of the telomeres determine the number of divisions a cell can take.
Further telomere research has shown that telomeres are cellular-level determinants of aging, and that telomeres prevent chromosomes from rearranging or sticking to each other, for when chromosomes begin doing these cancer may result. Once cells have no telomeres left, they die. Such is the might of cancer cells – they have ways of escaping destruction even if they have no telomeres left.
An exciting team of Noble Prize winning scientists have made telomeres popular. They have even brought about a bit of authenticity to the link between telomeres and anti-aging. One of the ingredients discovered is called teprenone, which people are using in different anti-aging lotions and skin care products. It is also sometimes called Renovage.
So, why are telomeres important and how do they work, and what can the latest telomere products do for us? I always think it’s important to explain it in the most basic way possible. Let’s just break it down like this. Telomeres are on the end of our DNA, and when we replicate DNA, the telomere has a huge part in this. Telomeres carry the important information. Bad things happen when telomeres get short! When they get too short, they activate cell crisis and then the death of the cell all together, which results in aging!
Nov 11
21
The Function of Telomerase
When the cell replicates and divides, the sequence of nucleotides slowly gets shorter, and the telomere length declines as well. The shortening of the telomeres is believed to be the source of cellular damage, causing the cell division process to slow down as well. Slow, cellular decline leads to dysfunction which causes death. The telomerase enzyme helps to stop the loss of gene information during DNA replication. The telomerase enzyme is at the helm for maintaining cell division behaviors.
Many different proteins and a string of RNA make up telomerase. Telomerase enzymes seem to halt the cellular cycle of aging by giving extra DNA data to the chromosomes. Telomerase enzymes allow the cells to divide, and allow for cell regeneration. Many scientists are coming to the conclusion that it is possible to reverse aging with the telomerase enzyme in this lifetime!
New research shows the role of short Telomeres in emphysema, a lung disease mostly developed in people who smoke cigarettes. This is a deadly disease for which no treatment has been found yet.
In emphysema, the alveoli, which are the small air sacs that exchange oxygen in the lungs, are lost. This means less oxygen can be inhaled and therefore less oxygen is available in the body. This is most commonly found in older people who smoke and sometimes, yet very rarely, in non-smokers.
This disease is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States with growing numbers. Mary Armanios, MD, assistant professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine said: “We found that in mice that have short telomeres, there was a significant increased risk of developing emphysema after exposure to cigarette smoke.” The study was lead by Dr Armanios and her colleagues. The mice were exposed to cigarette smoke for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week for six months.
