Science
Can your cells tell how stressed you are?
At the end of every chromosome, there's a tiny protective cap called a telomere. Think of it like the plastic tip on a shoelace. It keeps things from fraying. Every time a cell divides, that cap gets a little shorter. When it gets too short, the cell stops working well or dies.
It's not just that you feel stressed. Your telomeres are listening.— Elizabeth Blackburn
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The thinker
Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist
Elizabeth Blackburn is a Nobel laureate who co-discovered telomerase, the enzyme that replenishes telomeres. Her research revealed how lifestyle and stress affect aging at the cellular level.
Based on The science of cells that never get old — Elizabeth Blackburn, TED Talk, summarised and reframed by Insights.
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