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Wiktionary
telomere

n. (context genetics English) Either of the sequences of DNA at each end of a eukaryotic chromosome.

WordNet
telomere

n. either (free) end of a eukaryotic chromosome; "telomeres act as caps to keep the sticky ends of chromosomes from randomly clumping together"

Wikipedia
Telomere

A telomere is a region of repetitive nucleotide sequences at each end of a chromosome, which protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration or from fusion with neighboring chromosomes. Its name is derived from the Greek nouns telos (τέλος) 'end' and merοs (μέρος, root: μερ-) 'part.' For vertebrates, the sequence of nucleotides in telomeres is T T A G G G. This sequence of TTAGGG is repeated approximately 2,500 times in humans.

During chromosome replication, the enzymes that duplicate DNA cannot continue their duplication all the way to the end of a chromosome, so in each duplication the end of the chromosome is shortened (this is because the synthesis of Okazaki fragments requires RNA primers attaching ahead on the lagging strand). The telomeres are disposable buffers at the ends of chromosomes which are truncated during cell division; their presence protects the genes before them on the chromosome from being truncated instead.

Over time, due to each cell division, the telomere ends become shorter. They are replenished by an enzyme, telomerase reverse transcriptase.

Telomere (disambiguation)

Telomere may refer to:

  • Telomere, a protective DNA cap on a chromosome
  • Telomere (insect morphology), the distal part of a two-part paramere
Telomere (insect morphology)

A telomere ( pl.; telomeres or telomeron), literally "end piece", is a term in insect morphology, and refers to a type of "genital clasper"; i.e.: in Mallophaga, a part of the genital sac that forms a sclerotized plate on both sides of the penis.

Present in higher insect orders from Orthoptera to Hymenoptera. In adult insects of these orders, genital claspers may develop in two segments, a proximal basimere and a distal telomere.

Usage examples of "telomere".

Now she is eighty, and a telomere refusenik, a charter member of the genome conservation front.

Art recalled, with no pleasure at all, that the telomere research center was on the fifteenth floor.

Every telomere in every cell would shorten, until the cells reached the Hayflick limit and could no longer give viable daughter cells.

I had everything here that I needed to satisfy the telomere monitoring needs of Seth and his companions.

He had posed a challenging problem, in the central area where my own ego lies: How does one make an efficient device for telomere inspection, without genome scanners or anything else involving microchip technology?

Its telomere should have been completely rebuilt, which meant that the nucleotide sequence ought to repeat about fifteen hundred times.

The telomere was far too short, no more than a few hundred repetitions of the same pattern of the six nucleotide bases.

When the cell reaches its Hayflick limit of fifty divisions, the telomere is down to a nub.

Every time a bit of telomere is lost through cell division, it comes along and replaces it so that the strand never gets shorter.

Instead of adding to the telomere cap, it just sticks there, causing the chromosomes to clump together.

Carmel, medical student, for his superb and indefatigable research in cloning, DNA, telomere work, autopsies and aging.

As long as the antioxidant binds to the DNA telomere sequence, cell death will not occur.

The telomere tabs were one-shot things, right, most people got them in their early twenties.

Likewise, the first gene in chromosome three was preceded by another telomere, the end cap on the leading edge of that chromosome.

Unless we have a way of checking the condition of our telomeres and making the right adjustments, we could be dead in a year of new cancer or premature old age.