« Emerging tech: Location, location, location | Main | Dogs help sniff out genes »

Minimum telomere length defined for healthy cells

Mechanism for chromosome corruption also revealed.

How long have I got left, doctor? For a cell, at least, scientists may be close to an answer. A cell's lifespan depends on the length of its telomeres — the regions of repeating DNA that protect the ends of chromosomes. Every time a cell divides, its telomeres get shorter until they become unstable and cause chromosomes to fuse together. These fusions can make the chromosomes break when cells divide, leading to cell death or triggering genomic rearrangements associated with the early stages of cancer.

Read the story here.

Posted by Nicola Jones on October 01, 2007
Categories: | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blogs.nature.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3616

Comments

Molecule Derived from Ancient Chinese Herb Gets to Root of Aging

TA Sciences has isolated TA-65: a single molecule from Astragalus

TA-65 is a naturally occurring molecule found in the ancient Chinese herb Astragalus that activates the enzyme telomerase. Telomerase acts to lengthen telomeres which are protective bits of DNA located at the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres control the life span of cells and are a key component in the aging process. T.A. Sciences has developed a proprietary process to refine and purify TA-65. Some may question why you wouldn’t just buy Astragalus in a health food store. The answer is that normal Astragalus extracts contain thousands of different molecules and little or no TA-65. T.A. Sciences has tested four commonly available Astragalus extracts, and none of them contained any measurable amounts of TA-65 .

The refining process begins with 3 tons of plant material harvested from selected farms in one small region in China. In T.A. Sciences’ plant extraction facility, the raw Astragalus root is chopped up and refined. After initial extraction, the base ingredient is further purified and then sent to an outside government testing facility where it is tested for purity, heavy metals, and pesticides. The product is then sent to a FDA certified, state-of-the-art, laboratory for final purification that ends up with 90+% pure TA-65.

To speak with a representative from T.A. Sciences about TA-65 or the basics of Telomere Biology, please contact me.

Thanks,

Kate

###

ABOUT TA SCIENCES:
After more than 6 years of research and development, T.A. Sciences has perfected an exclusive method for extracting the naturally-occurring TA-65 molecule from the Astragalus root. TA-65 activates telomerase and this helps keep cells functioning in a normal and healthy way as we age. For more information please visit www.TASciences.com.

Kate Streit

Publicist

Empower Public Relations

O: 312.239.2405

C: 312.316.3840

kstreit@empowerpr.com

Posted by: EmpowerPR | February 19, 2009 08:18 PM

Post a comment

Comments will be reviewed by staff before being published. You can be as critical or controversial as you like, but please don't get personal or offensive, and do keep it brief. Excessively long entries may be cropped. Remember this is for feedback and discussion - not for publishing papers or press releases.

We strongly encourage you to use your real, full name. Email addresses are required: this is just in case we need to discuss your comment with you privately. They won’t be published.


Please enter the numbers you see below - this helps us to cut down on spam. Note that attempting to post within 30 seconds of hitting ‘preview’ or ‘post’ can cause the system to think you are spamming the site. If you are having trouble with this system, you can instead e-mail a comment to 'inthefield at nature.com'.

Search