| These two genes are tightly linked to the left telomere of the X chromosome. |
| With that in mind, the researchers started comparing telomere lengths within families. Tel-talesWhat they found was a bit of a shock. |
| Such a widespread conservation of telomeric silencing among eukaryotes suggests that it is fundamental to telomere function. |
| In nature, a chromosome can be lengthened by the enzyme telomerase, which adds new TTAGGG sequences to the end of the telomere. |
| This ancestral telomeric element has evolved to optimize telomere maintenance. |
| All transfectants lacked detectable telomerase activity, showed progressive telomere shortening and ultimately arrested and died. |
