Identification of a Specific Telomere Terminal Transferase Activity in Tetrahymena Extracts

£1,250 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

the key to aging cancer First edition, the journal issue in original wrappers, of the paper announcing the discovery of telomerase, a key part of the body of work for which the authors were awarded the Nobel Prize. A superb copy. Prior to the 1980s one of the major questions in biology was how DNA fully replicated itself without damage. In 1980 Elizabeth Blackburn (1948 - ), then a post-doc at Yale, discovered that the ends of chromosomes were capped with extra genetic material, telomeres. Two years later she and her colleague Jack Szostak were able to prove that telomeres protect DNA during replication. In 1984 Blackburn and graduate student Carol Greider discovered that the enzyme telomerase produces the telomeres, and presented their work in the present paper. As Blackburn explained it to the Guardian in 2017, 'If you think of your chromosomes — which carry your genetic material — as shoelaces, telomeres are the little protective tips at the end. They are made of repeating short sequences of DNA sheathed in special proteins. During our lives they tend to wear down and when telomeres can't protect chromosomes properly, cells can't replenish and they malfunction. This sets up physiological changes in the body which increase risks of the major conditions and diseases of ageing: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, a weakened immune system and more... It is happening in all of us at some rate, but the rate can change. An enzyme called telomerase can add DNA to the ends of

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.