The “dead” sections of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes, may shed some light on how cells may be prevented from turning cancerous.
Telomerase the so called ‘dead sections’ of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes, are in news again.
Telomerase have been known to be involved in death of a cell. Like an eraser they keep getting shortened as the cells divide and as it reaches a critical point the cells die. Cancer cells get immortalized if the telomerase enzyme regenerates the telomerase.Joachim Lingner of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and his colleagues have found that they the telomerase can behave like genes in that they make RNA copies of themselves (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1147182).
Lingner also suspects that this RNA may interact with telomerase and if we can disable the RNA with a drug; it might block this process and this in turn can prevent the cells becoming cancerous. This could be a path breaking step in our search for cancer cure.
Source - ANI
SS/J
