Problem
Today you have learned about DNA, the cell cycle, chromosomes, and the special end-tips of the chromosomes called Telomeres. Each time a cell divides the Telomeres get shorter and shorter, until they get so short that a cell stops dividing and eventually dies. This is a part of normal aging process. We know that stress can speed up the shortening of the telomeres, and therefore speed up the aging process. We also know that cancer cells and stem cells have a special enzyme called Telomerase that can keep the telomeres at the original length, so they never shorten.
My question for you is this: What, do you think, would happen, and how it would change our bodies, if all our cells expressed Telomerase enzyme?