From: John Clark (jonkc@worldnet.att.net)
Date: Mon Jun 18 2001 - 09:07:50 MDT
It's been known for a few years that cells with shortened telomeres
stop dividing, but exactly why was not known. In the June 15 issue of
Science Dr. Jerry Shay and Dr. Woodring Wright describe something
they call the "telomere position effect", the closer a gene is to a
shortened telomere the less vigorously the gene is expressed.
The effect is proportional to the length of the telomere and the
distance the gene is to the telomere.
Interesting quotation: " Are cells counting how many times they divide?
We believe the telomeres are the molecular memory."
John K Clark jonkc@att.net
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