Document Type : Short Communication

Authors

Abstract

During DNA replication, our chromosomes overcome the end-replication problem because they are protected by telomeres. A telomere is a repetitive sequence at the end of the chromosome, which gets shorter at each cell division. Telomere shortening prevents loss of the main genes at the end of the chromosome. When telomeres get too short, cell division stops and death occurs. This shortening process is associated with aging. In other words, older cells have shorter telomeres. The relationship between aging and reduction in creation has been directly expressed in Sura Yasin in the holy Quran. This brief article aimed to present the delicate description of Quran about the molecular mechanism of aging.

Keywords

  1. Cooke HSmith B. Variability at the Telomeres of the Human X/Y Pseudoautosomal Region. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology. 1986; 51(0):213-219.
  2.  Greider CBlackburn E. Identification of a specific telomere terminal transferase activity in tetrahymena extracts. Cell. 1985; 43(2):405-413.
  3. Counter CM, Avilion AA, LeFeuvre CE, Stewart NG, Greider CW, Harley CB, Bacchetti S. Telomere shortening associated with chromosome instability is arrested in immortal cells which express telomerase activity. EMBO J. 1992; 11(5):1921-1929.
  4.  Harley C, Futcher A, Greider C. Telomeres shorten during ageing of human fibroblasts. Nature. 1990; 345(6274):458-460.
  5.  Hayflick L. Living forever and dying in the attempt. Experimental Gerontology. 2003; 38(11-12):1231-1241.
  6.  Hornsby P. Short telomeres: cause or consequence of aging? Aging Cell. 2006; 5(6):577-578.
  7. The Noble Quran. http://quran.com/  [Access in May 2016 [