The field of research dealing with telomeres and telomerase is one of the most exciting fields in the quest to defeat the aging process. Telomeres are lengths of nucleic acids (DNA) that extend from the tip of our 46 chromosomes. They have been described as resembling the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces.

As the cells in our bodies divide, the chromosomes inside the nucleus divide as well. With each division the telomeres on the ends of each chromosome become shortened. After a certain number of cell divisions these telomeres have been reduced to but a fraction of their original length. At this point the cell ceases to divide further. It becomes senescent and eventually dies.

This suggests most strongly that the telomere is the biological clock that governs a cell's ability to divide, the regulator or counter that is responsible for finally halting cell division: the previously invisible hand behind the Hayflick Limit.

The telomeres, in turn, have their length determined by an enzyme called telomerase. And the production of telomerase, finally, is regulated by the telomerase gene and Human Growth Hormone may activate this gene to prevent telomere shortening.

In youthful cells there is more telomerase present, actively preserving the length of the telomeres as these cells divide. In older cells, the levels of telomerase is lower, and at this stage more of the telomere is lost with each division.

The latest research to date shows that by maintaining high, youthful levels of telomerase in a cell we confer upon the cell the capacity to go on dividing indefinitely.