John Thomas Renfro (ren at iac.net) wrote:
: Geron Corporation, Menlo Park, California, have discovered that virtually
: all human tumors contain a unique enzyme that blocks the biological
: clocks of the tumor cells.
: What if a similar enzyme were introduced into normal human cells so that
: their DNA doesn't deteriorate when the normal cells divide?
: Wouldn't this be an immortal creature? And what would be the implications
: of such a discovery?
I think you are refering to telomerase (sp?) which ensures that the telomeres
of the DNA do not shorten with each division. Thus, the cells can divide
indefinently. The problem of inserting this gene into old cells would be the
potential of creating cancer in these cells. It would be a delecate and thin
fence you would be walking on. Still, research could be interesting
As for the implications, hmmm, very interesting, perhaps we can discuss this
in about 200 yrs time :) Perosnally I'd like to live this long, so long as
I was still healthy
--
Scott A. Robson is
scott at psycho.biz.usyd.edu.au
better known as Krust-E
