Quote (Mycenaean @ 30 Nov 2010 21:02)
I remember reading up on telomeres. I asked my teacher if them being gone would let us live forever. This is incredibly relevant to my interests.
I read the article, interesting stuff, but I imagine the results are almost intuitive for those in the field, since a quick read reveals that when it comes to the phenomenon of aging, telomeres and oxydative stress (this is less evident though) were already the hypothetical culprits.
Despite chromosomal
instability, the brief course of telomerase reactivation was not sufficient
to promote carcinogenesis (data not shown), a finding consistent with a
role for telomerase in promoting progressionof established neoplasms.
However, it remains possible that more prolonged telomerase reactivation
schedules or applications in later life may provoke carcinogenesis.Directly from the article.
Bold is very likely since tumor cells have that enzyme activated when normal cells usually do not. That's what makes them "immortal".
You wont be able to live forever.
The study was done on mice for a short period of time so we have no idea what actually happens on the long run.
And what they showed ins't immortality, but restoration to normality. The mice had a defect which was "faster" aging, and by fixing that through telomerase activation, they restored things to normal. They did not make normal mice live longer.