The telomere/telomerase hypothesis and cell aging

Telomere is the complex of terminal DNA and protein,found at the end of eukaryotic chromosomes.The telomere length will be shorter as cell aging.Telomerase,a cellular ribonucleoprotein(RNP) reverse transcriptase,is believed to maitain the length of telomere when expressed.When telomerase is activated,the telomere length will be elonged,thereby staying cell proliferation.The telomere/telomerase hypothesis and its intereaction with cell aging,and the progresses of telomere in the aspect of animal cloning were introduced in this paper.