PhRMA offers free access to the Lexicon in order to help to educate the public, facilitate informed policy discussions, and enable precise understanding and communication related to genetic medicine. The enzyme which directs the replication of telomeres. This enzyme is inactive in normal cells but is rather active in cancerous cells. It has been shown recently that increased telomerase activity is not in and of itself the cause of cancerous growth. A series of repeated DNA sequences located at the end of a chromosome.
Telomeres serve to assure that a chromosome is replicated properly each time a cell divides.
Each time a cell divides, some of the telomere is lost in the process. Eventually little or no telomere remains, and the cell dies. Any factor in the environment which can cause an abnormality in a developing embryo. A tumor composed of an unorganized collection of different tissues. Cells that have the ability to develop into any of the many different cell types which make up multicellular organisms.