How Chromosomes are Protected by Telomeres and the Enzyme Telomerase?——Interpretation of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Telomeres whose length depends on the existing of telomerase play an important role in keeping the stability of chromosome and delaying ageing of the cell.Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak discovered that an unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation.These discoveries explained how the ends of the chromosomes are protected by the telomeres and that they are built by telomerase.So the three scientists won the Nobel prize of 2009 in physiology or medicine.