Entry #8: Chromosome 14: Immortality

In this chapter, Matt Ridley talks about how people have been wondering about immortality for quite some time and whether or not it exists. The question is answered on chromosome 14, in the shape of a gene called TEP1. The product of TEP1 is a protein which forms part of the most unusual little biochemical machine called telomerase. Lack of telomerase causes senescence and addition of telomerase turns certain cells immortal. The story begins with the discovery James Watson discovered. He noticed that the biochemical machines that copy DNA called polymerases cannot start at the very tip of a DNA strand. rather the start several letters into the text. therefore the text gets a little shorter every time it is duplicated. everytime the chromosome is copied, a little bit of the telomere is left off. After a few hundred copies, the chromosome is getting so short at the end that meaningful genes are in danger of being left off. In your body, the telomeres are shortening and the result is aging. This is why that people realize now that telomerase could be the result of immorality.