Scientists identify key component in cell replication

Last week, a presidential limousine shuttled Barack Obama to the most important job in his life. Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have now identified a protein that does much the same for the telomerase enzyme — ferrying the critically important clump of proteins around to repair the ends of chromosomes that are lost during normal replication. Without such ongoing maintenance, stem cells would soon cease dividing and embryos would fail to develop.

More Physorg