On Pages 187-191, Dr. Moalem discusses how telomeres and telomerase work causing cancer to grow almost endlessly and causing us to age. The Hayflick limit uses telomeres to limit the number of times a cell can divide. Each time a cell divides, its telomeres become shorter, when the telomeres become too short, the cell would be unable to further reproduce. As a result, as people get older, their cells slowly become unable to reproduce which leads to aging. In cancer, however, an enzyme called telomerase is sometimes on, rebuilding telomeres and thus allowing the cancer cells to reproduce limitlessly. Telomeres, specifically, are used in DNA replication which relates to Big Idea 3: Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes.
Research how scientists have utilized knowledge of the telomeres and the aging mechanisms and what methods they use to treat various illnesses for example, progeria and cancer. Additionally, research what kind of research is currently being done on the topic. Also, establish a stance on whether or not humans should tamper with the aging mechanism i.e., attempting to establish immortality by having the capability to reproduce cells infinitely.
-Chris Yao chyao4@students.d125.org
The use of knowledge of telomerase and telomeres has recently been applied to the study of stem cells. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the ability to divide an infinite amount of times due to their activation of telomerase to repair telomeres. Stem cells can be differentiated into either neural, muscle, epithelial, or connective tissue cells. By being differentiated into a certain type of tissue and utilizing its immortality, scientists have been able to experiment with stem cells to grow organs. Besides growing compatible organs for those who desperately need transplants, stem cells can also be used to study specific diseases. However, only embryonic stem cells have the ability to divide an infinite number of times, but it has become an ethical issue to much of society. Recently, a group of Japanese scientists proved that adult somatic cells can be reprogrammed into pluripotent (ability to differentiate into many different forms) stem cells that are also disease or patient specific. ("Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Adult Human Fibroblasts by Defined Factors") Stem cells relate to Big Idea 3, because they work with all other systems in the body by repairing all types of damaged tissue. By dividing continuously and differentiating into any type of tissue, stem cells build and repair constantly.
ReplyDeleteBecause one of the main causes of cancer is the abundance of telomerase tumors live off of, anti-telomerase cancer treatments are being developed. However, these developing treatments have only put cancer cells in a state of senescence. The telomerase is inhibited and the cancer cells aren't dividing anymore, but they are still metabolically active. ("Recent patents on anti-telomerase cancer therapy") As of today there are no treatments that truly focus on inhibiting telomerase to stop progeria or cancer.Treatments for both do exist, but those involving telomerase are still being developed.
Regarding the tampering with "immortality" through telomerase, I believe that if it the knowledge of it is used to help treat people suffering from diseases like progeria or cancer, then i whole heatedly support it. However, if a person should want to use it to defy nature and live for ever, then that is a selfish cause and i have no support that expedition at all.
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Delete(Vivian To vivto4@students.d125.org)
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DeleteScientists have used the knowledge of telomeres to study more diseases like cancer using the idea that every cell is programmed for apoptosis eventually. The enzyme telomerase causes the lengthening of telomeres in eukaryotic cells to compensate for the shortening of the telomeres during DNA replication Scientists know that right now normal shortening of telomeres may protect organisms from cancer by limiting the number of divisions somatic cells can do (Campbell 319). Telomerase resets the cell’s biological clock, and prolongs cell death. Telomerase is found in many cancerous cells that divide limitlessly and are immortal. Other than anti-telomerase cancer treatments like Vivian mentioned, there are other ways that scientists try to treat problems because of telomeres with gene therapy. The gene therapy consisted of treating mice with a DNA-modified virus, with the viral genes being replaced by the telomerase enzyme. In the mice if it was treated at the age of one it lived longer by 24% on average, and mice treated at the age of two lived 13% longer. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120514204050.htm)
Some research that has been done in the science journal “Multivitamin use and telomere length in women” relates to the possibility of increasing telomere length in people by supplying more multivitamins to people. Since telomere length is like “biological ageing”, shorter telomeres are possibly linked to higher mortality and chronic diseases brought on by old age like cancer and lung disease. So far the studies show that women with more multivitamins displayed longer telomere length. (http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/89/6/1857.long) It shows that the possibility of diseases more common in people with shorter telomeres can be reduced if given more multivitamins. This could possibly a way to treat or reduce the risk of diseases like cancer. An article from Science Daily also makes an observation that diabetes seems to occur more often in patients with dyskeratosis congenita,which is a rare, inherited disease caused by short telomeres. Patients with dyskeratosis congenita can have symptoms like premature hair graying and are prone to developing early organ failure. Since the number of incidents of diabetes are more common in older aged adults, scientists are doing studies to see if diabetes might be linked to telomeres.(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110324103604.htm)
The idea of telomeres and their effects relate to Big Idea 3( Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes). It’s said in Big Idea 3 that “Cell signal mechanisms can also modulate and control gene expression”. Gene expression can be regulated, and telomeres control gene expression with the slow erosion near the ends of DNA molecules. Specific proteins associated with telomeric DNA prevent the staggered ends of a DNA molecule from triggering signal pathways that lead to cell death. (Campbell 318)
I think that it’s fine if humans tamper with aging mechanisms unlike Vivian. While I don’t think everyone should be given immortality, I think it would be nice to extend the average life by many years for people to live their life more fully. It’s always been people’s dreams to live forever. I definitely agree with Vivian that many people who have diseases like progeria and cancer would benefit a lot from any new methods tampering with telomerases. Also, while age tampering could be successful to a degree, a person who lives longer could be very inactive and physically weak during the extra time due to them living longer than their body can physically handle. I don’t think realistically many people can be affected too much by tampering with aging mechanisms unless the person is suffering from a disease that shortens the life span of someone. Right now with the current discoveries, the only change so far I’ve seen is change for the better in someone’s lives to either lengthen a lifespan by a bit or reduce chance of diseases that are common to old aged adults.
Delete(Eric Huang, ehuang4@students.d125.org)