Unit 13: Aging
- Page ID
- 3772
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- 13.1: Aging
- Aging is the progressive loss of physiological functions that increases the probability of death. The decline in function certainly occurs within cells. This is especially true of cells that are no longer in the cell cycle: (1) neurons in the brain, (2) skeletal and cardiac muscle, and (3) kidney cells.
- 13.2: Telomeres
- The DNA molecule of a typical chromosome contains a linear array of genes (encoding proteins and RNAs) interspersed with much noncoding DNA. Included in the noncoding DNA are long stretches that make up the centromere and long stretches at the ends of the chromosome, the telomeres. Telomeres are crucial to the life of the cell. They keep the ends of the various chromosomes in the cell from accidentally becoming attached to each other.