According to this CNN article, a scientific breakthrough has occurred thanks to research from the Arizona State University and Texas A&M University. These scientists have, for the very first time, identified the structure of telomerase in plants.
Telomerase is an enzyme that creates the DNA of telomeres.
>>Telomeres protects our cells from aging as our cells multiply.
>>>If our cells are protected from aging, then so will our bodies…
This breakthrough will allow scientists to study how telomerase in plants compare to the ones in animals, including humans! For example, there is a pine tree, named Methuselah, that is 4,845 years old in California. It is so inimitable that the location of this particular pine tree is kept secret for protection.
On the flip side, certain cells that have too much telomerase can be deleterious to our health, like cancer cells. The ability to stop a cancer cell from multiplying by shortening its telomeres could be revolutionary!
Fun fact: these components of life are so important that the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak for their research on how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and telomerase.
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