Question

How does telomerase prevent DNA shortening

Answer 1

Ans :

Telomerase is the enzyme that is responsible to add the repeated sequences of nucleotides (telomers) at the ends of a DNA strand.

The DNA replicating enzymes do not replicate the chromatids all the way uptill the end. So in the absence of a telomere section , the genetic information which is present in the ends of those chromatids may be lost.

The telomere section in these strands prevent the truncation of these genes and instead get themselves sacrificed.

So now with each replication process , the telomere section keeps getting shorter and shorter and the enzyme keeps replenishing it and ultimately preventing the shortening of DNA.