Telomeres | Telomerase |
Telomeric DNA repeats
bound by the shelterin complex protect chromosome ends. De Lange and colleagues show that the double-stranded-break-repair protein Ku70 mediates fusion of dysfunctional telomeres, but also functions in concert with the shelterin component, TRF2, to suppress telomere-telomere recombination, thereby protecting chromosome ends. Nature |
Southern Cross University Whale Research Center
New South WalesPeter Harrison
DNA in the whale's skin flakes could tell scientists how long they have lived.Nature magazine • August 2006
New aging method relies on extracting DNA from the skin flakes of humpback whales and looking at telomeres structures that cap the end of chromosomes. The telomeres progressively shorten with age in many animal species and Harrison said he is hopeful they could be used to determine a whale's age. Harrison said the team which is collaborating with Prof. Scott Baker at the University of Oregon in the United States has determined that the genetic sequencing of a humpback's telomeres is similar to humans and other species. The next step, he said, is to determine how the lengths of the telomeres decrease with age by using the skin samples of 100 living whales of known age already on file at the center."Essentially, this (analysis) would mean Japan would no longer be able to kill whales in order to determine their age," he said. "So therefore, they would have to either modify their research program to stop killing whales or admit they are really doing commercial whaling with science as an excuse and therefore change the nature of their whaling program."
Officials at the Japanese Fisheries Agency were not immediately available for comment.