Telomeres-The Protective Caps of Chromosomes

Telomeres are repetitive nucleotide sequences present at each end of the chromatids of the chromosomes. Telomeres have been compared with the Plastic tips on the sholaces because they prevent the chromosome ends from fraying and sticking to each other, which would scramble an organism's genetic information to cause cancer, other diseases or death. Yet each time a cell divides the telomeres get shorter. When they get too short, the cell no longer can divide and become inactive or senescent or dies. This process is associated with ageing, cancer and higher risk of death. So telomeres have been compared with a BOMB FUSE. The telomere length is considered as a BIOMARKER IN CELLULAR AGEING. Here in this article the structure, function of telomeres and its importance in cellular ageing and human-ageing related disease is reviewed.