Ever since researchers connected the shortening of telomeres— the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes—to aging and disease, the race has been on to understand the factors that govern telomere length. Salk Professor and holder of the Donald and Darlene Shiley Chair Jan Karlseder, first author Teresa Rivera and colleagues have found that a balance of elongation and trimming in stem cells results in telomeres that are, as Goldilocks would say, not too short and not too long, but just right. The finding deepens our understanding of stem cell biology and could help advance stem cell based therapies, especially related to aging and regenerative medicine.
See microscopy from this research.
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