Clone telomeres behave normally

[iansmith]

Early embryo telomerase-dependent length resetting means clones won't have short telomeres | By Cathy Holding

A team of researchers at Hannover Medical School, Germany, has found a telomerase-dependent telomere length–resetting event between the morula and blastocyst embryonic stages that they say keeps cloned embryo telomere length normal.

Because telomeres—the structures located at the end of chromosomes—lose a piece of their sequences with each cell division, short telomeres are usually correlated with age, said Heiner Niemann, professor and head of the Department of Biotechnology at the Institut für Tierzucht, Neustadt, Germany, who coauthored the study, published in the May 17 PNAS Early Edition, with Sonja Schaetzlein and colleagues.

Scientists had earlier looked at telomere lengths in cloned animals because there was some concern that such animals may exhibit premature aging. “There was quite an uproar with Dolly [the first sheep clone] in that when they measured telomere length, they were indeed obviously shortened compared to age-matched controls,” Niemann said. However, later studies in cloned cattle and mice showed telomeres to be of normal length, he said.

http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20040518/01

 

[Monique]

Yeah, I thought so. Telomeres also have nothing to do with Progeria, as once thought.

 

[ravenprp]

Thank you for sharing this interesting article. It is reassuring to hear that cloned telomeres behave normally and that early embryo telomerase-dependent length resetting helps maintain normal telomere length in clones. This finding addresses concerns about premature aging in cloned animals and provides further support for the safety and viability of cloning technology. It is also interesting to note that earlier studies showed shortened telomeres in cloned animals, but subsequent studies have shown normal telomere length. This highlights the importance of continued research and the need to not jump to conclusions based on limited data. Overall, this study adds to our understanding of telomere dynamics and the potential applications of telomerase in maintaining healthy telomeres.