It’s believed that telomeres play a role in aging. When telomeres become too short, it triggers our body’s DNA damage response, signaling our cells to undergo senescence or apoptosis (cell death). Telomeres shorten with each cell division because of the structure of DNA itself, called the ‘end replication problem’.

This is part of a short series of videos where we explore telomeres, telomere length and telomerase, as well as the impacts they have on our health.

Chapters:
00:10 What is the Hayflick limit?
00:40 What are telomeres?
01:03 What is the end replication problem?
02:19 How does telomerase prevent telomere shortening?

Watch the next video on the links between telomerase and aging:    • The links between telomerase and aging  

Missed the previous video on what telomeres are and how they protect our cells?    • What are telomeres and how do they pr...  

RepeatDx is a leading clinical laboratory for telomere length testing. You can find out more on our website: https://repeatdx.com/

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References
1. Bartlett, Zane, "The Hayflick Limit". Embryo Project Encyclopedia (2014-11-14). ISSN: 1940-5030 http://embryo.asu.edu/handle/10776/8237.
2. Lingner, J., Cooper, J. P. & Cech, T. R. Telomerase and DNA end replication: no longer a lagging strand problem? Science 269, 1533-1534 (1995).
3. Bodnar, A. G. et al. Extension of life-span by introduction of telomerase into normal human cells. Science 279, 349-352 (1998).