4 ms·

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2009/illustrated-information/#:~:text=The%20Nobel%20Assembly%20at%20Karolinska,telomeres%20and%20the%20enzyme%20telom

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2009/illustrated-information/#:~:text=The%20Nobel%20Assembly%20at%20Karolinska,telomeres%20and%20the%20enzyme%20telomerase https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2009/illustrated-... 2009 Nobel prize given for this work. Lab animals, due to the way they are bred, are essentially susceptible to cancer and health issues not seen in normal wildtype populations. Shortened telomeres are the primary danger, increasing mutation rate and cell senescence. Essentially, all data involving the expectation of normal cellular behavior is subject to question - signaling from lab animals is corrupted.

pazimzadeh 5y ago
Do you have a source because as I understand it the length of the telomeres is reset each generation and so generally not transmissible to the next generation. Apparently leukocyte telomere length is heritable though, is that what you are talking about?
- robbedpeter 5y ago
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11909679/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11909679/ https://www.gwern.net/docs/longevity/2002-weinstein.pdf https://www.gwern.net/docs/longevity/2002-weinstein.pdf
  - ramraj07 5y ago
    What exactly are you interpreting out of this paper now ? How does this invalidate cancer studies in mice? Most cancer studies in mice are xenografts of human cancer cells so any relevance of mice telomeres is completely lost anyway. Also this obsession with telomeres being the fundamental key for all our biological problems seems so conspiratorial. Like you think our cells which do unimaginable things can't keep their DNA ends frothy? Like that's what is gonna spell their doom? Or you consider telomeres are just a symptom of a cells longevity decided by other factors ?
AceJohnny2 5y ago
The Nobel prize is about discovery of the telomeres, not about anything about lab populations.
dekhn 5y ago
you're just confused. lab rats and mice aren't useful model organisms, but it's not for this reason.

pazimzadeh 5y ago

Do you have a source because as I understand it the length of the telomeres is reset each generation and so generally not transmissible to the next generation. Apparently leukocyte telomere length is heritable though, is that what you are talking about?

robbedpeter 5y ago
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11909679/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11909679/ https://www.gwern.net/docs/longevity/2002-weinstein.pdf https://www.gwern.net/docs/longevity/2002-weinstein.pdf
- ramraj07 5y ago
  What exactly are you interpreting out of this paper now ? How does this invalidate cancer studies in mice? Most cancer studies in mice are xenografts of human cancer cells so any relevance of mice telomeres is completely lost anyway. Also this obsession with telomeres being the fundamental key for all our biological problems seems so conspiratorial. Like you think our cells which do unimaginable things can't keep their DNA ends frothy? Like that's what is gonna spell their doom? Or you consider telomeres are just a symptom of a cells longevity decided by other factors ?

AceJohnny2 5y ago

The Nobel prize is about discovery of the telomeres, not about anything about lab populations.

dekhn 5y ago

you're just confused. lab rats and mice aren't useful model organisms, but it's not for this reason.