What is a telomere?
Q: What is a telomere?
A: A telomere is a region of DNA located at the end of a chromosome that protects the chromosome from deteriorating or fusing with other chromosomes.
Q: What is the structure of a telomere?
A: Telomeres are made of repetitive sequences of DNA referred to as “repetitive DNA.”
Q: Why are telomeres important?
A: Telomeres protect the information contained in chromosomes from being lost during cell division.
Q: What happens when cells divide without telomeres?
A: If cells divide without telomeres, they would lose the ends of their chromosomes, and the information they contain.
Q: How are telomeres remade?
A: Telomeres are remade by an enzyme called telomerase reverse transcriptase.
Q: Who won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on telomeres?
A: The Australian Elizabeth Blackburn and the Americans Carol Greider and Jack Szostak won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on telomeres.
Q: What are telomeres described as in the text?
A: Telomeres are described as disposable buffers that block the ends of chromosomes.
