What is telomerase?
Q: What is telomerase?
A: Telomerase is an RNA protein enzyme that adds DNA sequence repeats to the end of DNA strands in the telomere regions.
Q: What are telomeres?
A: Telomeres are disposable buffers blocking the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. They consist of repeated nucleotides containing noncoding DNA.
Q: What is the function of telomeres?
A: The function of telomeres is to avoid the loss of important DNA from chromosome ends by compensating for 100-200 meaningless nucleotides lost during each replication cycle.
Q: Who first predicted a compensatory mechanism for telomere shortening?
A: Soviet biologist Alexey Olovnikov first predicted a compensatory mechanism for telomere shortening in 1973.
Q: Who discovered telomerase?
A: Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn discovered telomerase in 1984 in the ciliate Tetrahymena.
Q: For what were Greider, Blackburn, and Szostak awarded?
A: Greider, Blackburn, and Szostak were awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of telomerase.
Q: How does telomerase work? A: Telomerases carry their own RNA molecule which acts as a template to elongate the shortened telomeres after each replication cycle.
