The Telomeres resemble the plastic tips on the ends of the shoelace that prevent it from fraying.
There are many theories of aging, one of which is the shortening of telomeres in our DNA. A
telomere is like the plastic tip on the end of your shoe lace. It protects the DNA from unraveling during each cell division. Each cell division results in a slightly shorter telomere length, and eventually, the cell can no longer divide. This is called the
Hayflick Limit, after Dr. Leonard Hayflick’s discovery that cells have a limited number of times that they can divide. In mammals, the telomeres are protected from shortening until the onset of sexual maturity. After that, they begin to shorten with each cell division, eventually leading to an inability to divide any more in order to replace worn out, damaged or diseased cells. There is an enzyme called
telomerase that is produced in the cells which stimulates the lengthening of the telomeres. The pineal gland produces a hormone called
epithalamin that tells the cells to produce telomerase which in turn results in longer telomeres in our DNA. The functionality of the pineal gland declines with age, and is partly responsible for age-related diseases.