◎2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine ─The discovery of telomerase.
In 2009, it was awarded to three Nobel Laureates in physiology and medicine for their contribution to cell aging – telomere. In 1982, Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak found that telomere with special sequence at the end of chromosome plays a role in maintaining chromosome integrity and controlling cell division cycle; Dr. Carol Greider has found an enzyme in organisms that can synthesize a special sequence of telomerase.
We know that the telomeres at the top of the chromosomes of normal cells will be irreversibly We know that the telomere at the top of the chromosome of normal cells will become irreversibly shorter during cell division, so the length of telomere has a relative relationship with the number of cell divisions and the length of cell life cycle. Some scientists once compared telomere to a timing hourglass, and some sand will be lost every time the cell replicates, When the sand leaks out, the life of cells comes to an end.
Therefore, when the telomeres of cells are longer, they have the opportunity to divide many times. Compared with other cells with shorter telomeres, they belong to a younger group. At present, scholars believe that the true physiological age of human beings can be obtained by measuring the length of cell telomeres, which can be said to be a biomarker of human age.
Many research papers have been published – telomere length seems to be related to the occurrence of diseases, such as: when cancer occurs, most of the detected telomere length is prolonged; neurodegenerative diseases, such as: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease Symptoms, most of the detected telomere length is shortened. Therefore, detecting cell telomere length will be a positive indicator for us to measure the health status of our body to formulate health enhancement measures.
Related diseases of telomeres shortening:
- Neurodegenerative Diseases: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s
- Three highs and cardiovascular diseases: diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome and obesity, coronary heart disease, heart failure
- Chronic Lung Disease: Chronic Obstructive Disease, Emphysema, Smoking
- Chronic kidney disease: chronic nephritis, uremia, nephropathy
- Other diseases: aging, cancer
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