Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirty Harry
I'm not sure how you couldn't take what they say seriously.
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I take them seriously, I don't take you seriously.
Blonde posted the telemere thing in response to your "theoretically eliminate all disease" post, the NYT article is down but I can see that it's titled can-a-jellyfish-unlock-the-secret-of-immortality.html, complete bullshit nonsense, the same bullshit nonsense that most science communicators do all the time.
This rings the "they think if you can add telemeres indefinitely on you can stop aging" bell,
you'll still pick up mutations from:
The replication process, transposable elements, induced mutations;incorporation of base analogs, intercalating agents, alkylating agents, UV light causing pyrimidine dimers, ionising radiation, Reactive oxygen species (ROS)
and Viruses that incorporate themselves into DNA (retrovirus). Also major problems with chromosomal mutations during meiosis (two thirds of early miscarriages are associated with chromosome abnormalities)
If you knew that telemeres were only the surface of the aging problem then i'm sorry.
Scientific Breakthroughs
I posted the real breakthrough with the structure of Telomerase here, the enzyme responsible for adding telemeres.
It uses reverse transcription to add on repeating segments of DNA during meiosis, and sometimes during mitosis (in humans)
In the Naked Mole rat they have more telemerase activity in their somatic cells cells than we do.
Telomerase: fitting of high-resolution structures into an EM map - YouTube
One of the main concepts of biology is "Structure is Function" the shape of a molecule is directly related to what the molecule is capable of doing, this is news, the links today were not. I posted it like 6 months ago.
In 2006, Gorbunova discovered that telomerase—an enzyme that can lengthen the lives of cells, but can also increase the rate of cancer—is highly active in small rodents, but not in large ones.
Scientists Discover Gene that 'Cancer-Proofs' Rodent's Cells : Rochester News