To examine what differences telomeres make in plants, the team generated an Arabidopsis mutant without functional telomeres. Now we are following the consequences of not having telomeres, and we are finding some remarkable features in these plants. One key difference between plants and animals, Shippen noted, is that plants continue to live for a long time despite the catastrophic events they endure without telomeres. In similar studies of animal systems, cells have not been able to tolerate what a plant cell can. But plants are always making new organs throughout their lives.
Plants are more flexible.
The plant model developed in Shippen's lab should provide scientists with greater insights about how telomeres allow chromosomes to become stabilized. Those insights will lead to discoveries in human medicine. There's a strong correlation between telomeres and the ability of cancer cells to divide.