Fishing for telomeres: two scientists are measuring how fast our biological clocks tick

In this episode of MEDICUS – the Podcast, we meet two scientists to go fishing. But instead of heading out to sea to cast their lines, their “ocean” is a small tube in which they fish for specific genetic sequences that mark the ends of our chromosomes. Much like the plastic caps at the end of shoelaces, the sequences they hunt for, called telomeres, make sure that our genetic assembly instructions don’t unravel as our cells replicate.

Today, we know that these caps not only hold us together at the genetic seams, but that they erode with time and therefore play a vital role in ageing—their length is an indication of how many times our cells have replicated, and by extension how old we are biologically. But even though we’ve known about these caps for forty years, using them to help us live longer or at least healthier for longer has been an elusive goal.

Joining us on the show to talk about telomeres and their own latest research are:

•  Li Shang, an associate professor with the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Programme at Duke-NUS; and
• Javier Koh, a Duke-NUS PhD graduate and research fellow in Li’s lab

To learn more about the science being driven out of Singapore and the people behind it, go to: www.duke-nus.edu.sg/medicus