The Incredible Shrinking Chromosomes

The Incredible Shrinking Chromosomes
telomeres-memes, aging-memes, chromosomes-memes, biology-memes, genetics-memes | ScienceHumor.io

The countdown we never asked for but our cells insist on displaying. Those blue-capped chromosomes are literally shortening before our eyes as telomeres—the protective end caps of our DNA—erode with each cell division. By year 1, they're practically stumps.

Fun fact: while we're over here stressing about deadlines, our telomeres are the actual biological deadline. Some researchers spend their careers trying to hack this system, but meanwhile the rest of us just watch our chromosomes shrink like a sad time-lapse of ice cream melting in the sun.

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