Telomeres are the yardsticks measuring a cell's life expectancy. With each cell division, the telomeres shorten, marking off the number of divisions remaining before the cell dies. But some scientists, noting the difficulties of measuring things as small as telomeres, say Dolly's reportedly stunted telomeres may be errors in measurement or simply within the normal variation for sheep. The information will be stored in databases. By reading our genes, scientists and doctors will gain a better understanding of the human body.
Genes are responsible for making all the proteins required by the body.
These proteins determine how humans look, how we convert food to energy and sometimes even how we behave. Researchers have already pinpointed single genes associated with diseases like cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Proponents of the project say the research poses no new ethical dilemmas, but the use of data arising from these studies does present challenges. The Human Genome Project's also comprised of conferences and research projects to consider ethics issues. Perhaps the world was a bit incredulous, too, as news of the accomplishment passed with little public fanfare.