ABSTRACT
The ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes contain specialized structures called telomeres that are essential for preserving the stability of the genome and maintaining cell viability by preventing aberrant recombination and degradation (McEachern et al., 2000). Human telomeres consist of tandem arrays of the hexameric sequence TTAGGG. Due to an “end-replication problem,” DNA polymerase is not able to completely copy the end of the chromosome in lagging strand synthesis, resulting in a loss of telomeric repeats during each round of replication. Eventually, telomeres reach a critical length, and cell senescence occurs.
