Question: Is it possible to genetically engineer a human being so they can regenerate their telomeres at the end of chromosomes?

Elliot Jokl answered on 16 Jun 2016:

Great question!

Yes! In fact, we already have the gene for an enzyme called telomerase which can do this for us but it is switched in most types of cell. So it would just be a matter of switching that gene on if we always wanted to regenerate our telomeres.

Many people think this might be a good way to overcome ageing. As cells divide, they lose a bit of their telomere, and so once they have divided a certain number of times it has all gone, and that stops the cell from dividing again. This means that our body can’t renew itself as well, which is thought to be a central part of the ageing problem. By restoring the telomeres you could have theoretically endless cell division.

But, that might sound a bit familiar because that is also one of the features of cancer cells! So if we turn on the telomerase enzyme you also make it much more likely that you will end up with cancer. So it would be a very risky thing to do!